Rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. comes off bench to outscore Oklahoma City starters in Wolves’ blowout win

The last time Timberwolves rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. played big minutes in a postseason game on the Target Center court, he was dropping 34 points to lead Illinois to a Big Ten tournament title over Wisconsin last March.

He was the go-to guy, only sitting on the bench for four minutes.

In Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City on Saturday night, Shannon was given just four first-half minutes to dig up some of that same magic.

Down 2-0 in the playoff series but up 20 early in the second quarter, Wolves coach Chris Finch dipped deeper into Minnesota’s bench, to ninth-man Shannon. The rookie guard had played just a collective five minutes in the Wolves’ second-round series against Golden State.

Shannon didn’t need much more than that to outscore each of the Thunder starters in the Wolves’ 143-101 blowout win.

“I got drafted to a good team. I knew I was going to have to work my butt off to get in the rotation, or even to get minutes,” Shannon said. “When my time comes, it comes.”

Early in the second quarter, with Anthony Edwards and the Thunder’s NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, subbed out, Shannon earned a quick “and-1″ on a floater. He then made a pull-up jumper and a layup, plus hit two free throws, to rack up nine points in four minutes and extend Minnesota’s lead to 46-20.

Shannon shot 5-for-8 to finish the game with a bench-high 15 points in 13 minutes — outscoring Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 14 points.

Shannon also had two rebounds, an assist and a steal.

“I’ve been wrestling with getting another guy in the rotation,” Finch said. “A guy that could stretch the floor in transition, be a downhill player, got a good body, physicality. ... We kind of knew coming into the game that we were going to get to him.”

“You’re definitely going to see him more.”

The Target Center crowd gave Shannon a standing ovation when he subbed out with 7:50 left in first half.

“When you got a younger guy who’s in the same position you were, just watching him stay ready, then put on big performances ... in a big, big, big moment, it’s fun to see,” said Naz Reid, who has become the Wolves’ go-to sixth man. “You kind of get the chills.”

Said Shannon about the fans’ response: “Nobody gets the Naz Reid treatment — he’s one of a kind — but I appreciate it.”

Shannon averaged 4.3 points per game in 10.6 minutes this regular season but had scored just six total points while appearing in six games this postseason.

Drafted in the first round with pick No. 27, the 24-year-old Shannon is older than Wolves starters Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, both drafted in 2020. Edwards, whose trainer, Chris Hines, also works with Shannon, has described rookie as a “worker, like I am.”

“I just feed off their energy, or if the energy is low, I bring it,” Shannon said. “The way I play, the defense has to adjust to me, because I’m going so far down, going so fast and fearless downhill.”

Added to the Wolves roster alongside No. 8 pick Rob Dillingham, Shannon earned Most Outstanding Player honors for the 2024 Big Ten tournament. After averaging 20.2 points per game in two seasons at Illinois, Shannon’s jersey was retired in February — though his banner went viral after it was accidentally hung upside down from the rafters.

The nod to Shannon off the bench was a welcome change for a Wolves team that shot poorly in two road losses to start the series, 114-88 in Game 1 and 118-103 in Game 2.

Finch has mostly relied on an eight-man rotation this postseason, with Reid, Donte DiVincenzo and Nickeil Alexander-Walker coming off the bench.

With Minnesota leading by as many as 45 points in the second half, 14 of the 15 Wolves players got to help hand Oklahoma City its largest loss of the season. The Target Center crowd was eventually left chanting for the last holdout, NBA veteran Joe Ingles, with three minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The Wolves will look to even the series in Game 4 on Monday night at Target Center.