Despite playing three quarters of solid basketball, a disastrous third quarter proved far too much for the Timberwolves to overcome
Happy New Year Canis Hoopus faithful! It has been an incredible 2024 for the Minnesota Timberwolves who looked to close out the year on a high note against the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.
The game started well for Minnesota, breaking a trend of recent games where the Wolves would fall down big due to a starting lineup struggling to find consistent offense. The Wolves won the first quarter 24-21 and built a first-half lead as high as 11 points before a small run by the Thunder closed the lead to 52-46 at halftime.
At the start of the third quarter, the Wolves would build on a solid first half, outscoring the Thunder 13-7 over the first three and a half minutes of the quarter to build a game-high 12-point lead, capped off by three straight 3-pointers by Mike Conley.
ALL OF THIS >>>>>>>> pic.twitter.com/Dz9GsoKXrD
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) January 1, 2025
That is when the game fell apart for the Wolves as OKC would close the quarter on a 36-10 run, taking a 14-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Wolves would fight back in the final quarter, cutting the lead to just three points with two minutes left, but a late closeout by Anthony Edwards on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and back-to-back turnovers by the Wolves allowed the Thunder to put the game away for good.
The Wolves would end up falling 113-105. Edwards would lead the Timberwolves in scoring with 20 points on 6-12 shooting with Naz Reid adding 19 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. SGA was outstanding for the Thunder, scoring 40 points on just 23 shots.
Key Takeaways
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Anthony Edwards vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
During the Thunder’s third-quarter avalanche that ultimately decided the game, SGA scored 19 points. He scored from every area of the court, getting to the basket and the free-throw line while also making shots from the mid-range and from beyond the arc. Shai was in control of both the Thunder offense and really the entire game itself.
On the other side, Ant did not take a single shot the entire quarter. Despite a solid first half that saw him score 15 points, the Thunder defense was able to hold the Timberwolves’ superstar silent while OKC turned a 12-point deficit into a 14-point lead.
The difference in how each team’s best player was able to affect the game was stark. Shai was able to be the focal point of his team’s entire offense while the only stats Ant recorded in the quarter were a foul and a turnover.
Edwards has not been able to score with the same efficiency in December, scoring just 20.5 points per game while reaching the 30-point mark only once. The list of reasons for this scoring dip is long but includes opposing defenses loading up on Edwards, a lack of spacing with the starting lineup, not enough set plays that put Edwards in a good spot to score, and some shot selection and playmaking decisions that need to improve from Ant himself.
There isn’t a single player or coach that can be fully blamed for the lack of scoring from Edwards recently, but it is on the entire organization to make sure he turns it around as the Wolves will need Edwards playing at a much higher capacity if they want to win games in the playoffs.
Third Quarter Turnovers bury the Wolves
The Thunder have the NBA’s best defense, sporting a defensive rating of 102.9 coming into the game, more than three points better than the next-best team. For comparison, last year’s Wolves defense, which led them to the Western Conference Finals, had a rating of 108.4 and was only two points better than the next team.
The Timberwolves offense fairly well in the first half, scoring 54 points, but all of that changed in the third quarter when the Thunder’s defense took hold of the game.
The 23 third-quarter points by the Wolves do not fully encapsulate how poorly the offense ran in the period as the Wolves turned it over 11 times, allowing the Thunder to score on almost every one of their possessions.
When they weren’t turning it over in the period, the Wolves shot the ball great as they made 8 of their 13 field goal attempts in the quarter including five of seven attempts from deep. For the game, they finished shooting 49.4 from the field, 39.5 on 3-pointers, and made all 12 of their free throws.
As has been the case for much of the season, when Minnesota isn’t turning the ball over, their offense can score well enough to get them the lead in most games, but the large turnover games like tonight are happening far too frequently and have become a huge problem for the Timberwolves.
Up Next
The schedule doesn’t lighten up in 2025 as the Wolves next game on Thursday, Jan 2 comes against the defending champion Boston Celtics who are coming off a 54-point thrashing of the Toronto Raptors on New Year’s Eve.
The game will begin at 6:30 PM CT with fans being able to watch the game airing nationally on TNT.