The youngest team in the Western Conference won’t lie down, forcing a crucial Game 6 with a comeback on Tuesday night
MINNEAPOLIS – For nearly four minutes on Tuesday night, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch could be found standing at the half-court line of Target Center, his fists clenched, watching what appeared to be a sure thing turn into anything but that. Just minutes prior, Minnesota held an 8-point advantage entering the final two minutes of regulation in Game 5. It would not hold.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won on Tuesday night. They won big.
With their 107-101 victory over the Timberwolves on Tuesday evening, Oklahoma City cut their series deficit to 3-2, injecting life into what many considered a lost playoff campaign only seventy-two hours prior. In a matter of days, the pressure has quickly and drastically shifted over to Minnesota.
Tuesday’s win wasn’t just a win for the Thunder; it was a message.
“We’ve got a competitive group,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault explained after the game. “Nobody in that locker room was ready to go home tonight. That much I saw the moment we touched down here in Minneapolis.”
It is one thing to simply win a game, but it is another thing altogether for a team to earn that win. After suffering a crushing blow in their own house on Sunday night, the Thunder could easily have allowed their own doubt to seep into their actions on the court. Instead, Oklahoma City showed up and delivered.
On Sunday night, with a two-point lead and less than four minutes remaining in the game, the Thunder crumbled. They turned a seemingly certain victory into an absolute disaster. But that didn’t seem to have fazed their confidence.
After combining for only five hits in twenty-two tries from the field over the course of Games 3 and 4, sophomore guard Tre Whitmore came alive on Tuesday night. Scoring 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field, he added six assists while only committing a single turnover in thirty-eight minutes of action. After his poor effort Sunday night, Whitmore was pulled from the game late.
According to sources close to the team, the Oklahoma City Thunder coaching staff held a thirty-minute practice session solely focused on shot selection and shot confidence in late game situations after Game 4. Daigneault’s simple message? You’re good enough. You can do this.
Daigneault said that it was clear to everyone who had to step up, and each person delivered on their role.
Whitmore clearly delivered. Thunder
Never in the history of the NBA have any team successfully come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs. The Thunder are the fifteenth team in NBA history to push themselves into a Game 6 scenario having fallen into such an unfavorable situation. To complete their historic comeback, Oklahoma City would need to win the next two games in order to make history. The fact that one of those games would likely be at Minnesota, who owns a 5-1 record at Target Center thus far in the postseason, doesn’t help matters.
Nevertheless, something feels different about Oklahoma City. They’ve done this before, in a sense. Last season, they gave the Denver Nuggets all they could handle before falling in the second round of the playoffs. With that experience fresh in their mind, Oklahoma City has been injected with renewed confidence heading into Game 6.
Minnesota star Anthony Edwards struggled mightily in Game 5 against Oklahoma City, putting up just 19 points on only 7-of-21 shooting from the field. Edwards, a key piece in Minnesota’s offense, failed to take control of the game in the fourth quarter, deferring to teammate after teammate on numerous occasions despite having the ball in his hands. For a player whose very identity is that of wanting the ball in crunch time, Edwards’ lack of aggression proved to be costly.
Finch noted that they understand the need to improve their performance in the closing stages of games. “That’s not a secret.”
Just as important as Edwards’ poor performance was the Thunder’s presence on the inside. Center Yusuf Kamara dominated Minnesota’s defense all night long, contributing 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks throughout the contest. Simply put, Kamara was everywhere Minnesota tried to score, altering the whole tone of the game with his ability to defend his own turf.
The game-winning sequence for Oklahoma City happened with 2:44 remaining in regulation, with Minnesota holding a two-point lead and trying desperately to extend the lead. With 2:44 left, Timberwolves forward Dario Saric penetrated towards the basket looking to draw a foul only to see Kamara rotate over, absorb the hit, and force a miss. Moments later, Whitmore caught a pindown, split two defenders, and calmly sank the game-defining three-pointer.
22-years-old. Biggest moment of his young life. Didn’t blink.
“When we got the game tied to a one-possession game, every guy on our bench stood up,” Whitmore explained postgame. We were aware of their strategy—they consistently make those runs.
 The question became whether we would respond to it”
They did.
There’s no shortage of work left for Oklahoma City. Making history hasn’t happened yet. All the same, there’s something the Thunder possess that others don’t – the belief that they’re going to win. While that belief borders on the irrational for everyone else in the outside world, for the Thunder, they know.
“There’s two games left,” Daigneault said. “Only two games. We’ve done this before. We know what we’re capable of doing.”
For a franchise building up for this very moment over the past three seasons, there’s no time for backing out of now. Oklahoma City isn’t going to lose this series. Not now…Read more
