Timberwolves takeaways from Oklahoma City’s 118-103 Game 2 victory

OKLAHOMA CITY – In the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves’ 118-103 loss to the Thunder, Jaden McDaniels of the Wolves got tangled up with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

As the whistle blew for a foul on McDaniels, he shoved Gilgeous-Alexander to the ground, drawing a flagrant foul.

It typified the frustration the Wolves had all night Thursday, whether it was with their inability to stop Gilgeous-Alexander, the officiating or themselves as they are now down 2-0 in the best-of-seven NBA Western Conference finals.

Gilgeous-Alexander, named the league MVP on Wednesday, finished with 38 points, 13 of those at the free-throw line.

“Shai’s a handful to contain,” coach Chris Finch said. “When there’s contact, he’s getting around us. We got to do a better job of squaring him.”

The Wolves fell behind by 22 after three quarters and though they cut into the Thunder lead in the fourth, it was too much to come all the way back.

Anthony Edwards had 32 for the Wolves while McDaniels had 22. and Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 17 off the bench.

The Thunder limited Julius Randle to just six points.

The Wolves did an OK job fending off a Thunder run early in the third quarter, but eventually the floodgates of bad Wolves decisions and transition buckets for Oklahoma City opened.

The Thunder went on a 14-2 run as the Wolves again looked helpless on the offensive end. Randle couldn’t get anything going with the way the Thunder were defending him. He had more turnovers (four) than made field goals (two) through three quarters. He spent the duration of one Wolves timeout discussing things with the officials, and watched the fourth quarter from the bench.

The Wolves shot just 6-for-20 in the third, were 0-for-6 on three-point range and committed five turnovers, all of which were killers. The Thunder scored 12 points off those turnovers. Gilgeous-Alexander had 11 in the quarter. The Thunder closed on another 10-2 spurt to lead 93-71 after three.

After Game 1, Wolves guard Donte DiVincenzo said he felt the Wolves didn’t do a good job making the Thunder take the kind of shots the Wolves wanted them to take in the second half of Game 1.

The Thunder appeared to pick up where they left off early in the game, as they opened the night 10-for-15 and led 21-13.

McDaniels kept the Wolves in it early with a pair of threes as they tried to find their own offensive rhythm, which was harder to come by. The Wolves opened 10-for-28 in the first, but they were 5-for-11 from three-point range and had just two turnovers. That helped them stay within 29-25 after one.

The Thunder kept finding enough open holes in the Wolves’ defense, whether they went zone or man, to maintain a small lead in the second. But Gilgeous-Alexander got going at the end of the quarter, as he scored the Thunder’s last 11 points entering the half. That included two after the Wolves gave up the chance at the last shot on an offensive foul from DiVincenzo, and the Thunder led 58-50 at the half.

The MVP of the game received his MVP trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver before the game began, then he went out and played like it. Gilgeous-Alexander couldn’t be stopped, as he went 12-for-21. When the Wolves forced the ball out of his hands, his teammates made them pay.

The Wolves have found out they need to play near perfection if they are going to win just one game in this series. Their margin of error is almost non-existent, and the possibility of a sweep is very real.

Game 3 is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Target Center and will be televised on ABC (Ch. 5).