There's no doubt plenty of Minnesota Timberwolves fans were tuned in on Sunday afternoon for Game 7 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets to see who their opponent would be in the Western Conference Finals. One thing they undoubtedly took note of was the tenacious defense of guys like Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace.
We saw it all season with the Thunder, but it's been especially evident in these playoffs: Oklahoma City's defense is stifling. They play a brand of team defense that hasn't been seen in this league for some time. And spearheading their efforts are tremendous individual defensive talents like Caruso and Wallace.
All these guys do is come in off the bench and make life miserable for opposing ball handlers. One way in which we saw this play out on Sunday was in how they repeatedly denied any actions where the Nuggets tried to get Nikola Jokic the ball. As a result, Jokic finished the game with only nine shot attempts, which is far less than you would expect for a superstar in a do-or-die game.
Minnesota must be prepared for OKC's terrific team defense
Wolves fans saw how the Thunder can just break you down over time in that Game 7 on Sunday. With the best basketball player on the planet at the center of their offensive attack, the Nuggets have a championship-caliber offense. But when you have athletic and switchable defenders like the Thunder do, they can simply take the ball out of your best player's hands.
This is a lot to consider for a Timberwolves squad that frankly had a problem with turning the ball over in their Western Conference semifinal series with the Golden State Warriors. Repeat that same kind of lazy performance when it comes to taking care of the ball, and you could very easily end up sent home quickly by this Thunder team.
This is basically the name of the game when it comes to the Thunder's defensive game plan: They want to guard full court, they want to deny post entry passes, and they want to do everything they can to negate your offense's biggest strengths. Minnesota cannot afford to be lackadaisical offensively against this team.
When you talk about all-time great defenses in the NBA, this brand of swarming defense that the Thunder employ is probably the closest thing we've seen to the 2004 Detroit Pistons defense that won a championship. This Western Conference Finals series will be a massive test of Minnesota's maturity. If they can handle the pressure that comes with playing against this swarming defense from Oklahoma City, they may be worthy of a championship.