Wolves Struck By Thunder

Wolves Postgame Audio
Kevin McHale

Randy Foye

Ryan Gomes

It's said that revenge is a dish best served cold. Unfortunately it was the Wolves who were cold and the Thunder serving revenge on Sunday, avenging a 42-point blowout earlier this season with a dominant win over the Timberwolves that only got close in the final minutes.

Minnesota mounted a stirring comeback in the final six minutes, but it was too little too late, as Oklahoma City controlled most of the game and notched a 97-90 victory. Kevin Durant was his usual spectacular self, and he finished with 30 points, 13 of which came in the third quarter to put the game out of reach for the Wolves.

The Wolves, who came into the game having won two of their last three home games, looked lifeless for most of the afternoon and trailed by as much as 32. Kevin Love was the only starter to score more than eight points, and the Wolves scored just 53 points through the first three quarters. They were plagued by turnovers for much of the game; the Wolves coughed it up 16 times, all of which came in the first three quarters.

"We couldn't get anything going, missing shots, two guys colliding into each other, we had two guys fighting over the ball, we just had no rhythm again," Coach McHale said after the game. "They looked really tired, we didn't make hard cuts, we didn't do anything with a sense of purpose. It was just a really bad performance."

Craig Smith was the sole bright spot for the Wolves through three quarters; he finished with his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

McHale noted that the rest of his team looked tired right from the start of the game.

"We had guys running into each other, we had guys doing just the opposite of their assignments. They are a good group of guys, so I just have to assume they were absolutely tired. We just were out of it right from the start. Guys had a glazed look in the start of this game. It was really just a funky, funky day."

It wasn't until garbage time, with both teams' bench players on the court, that the Wolves mustered the energy to make a run. Led by Rodney Carney and Bobby Brown, the Wolves outscored the Thunder 37-to-13 in the final period, but still came up well short in the end.

"Going with the second unit, the last group played with some energy, but other than that we had no energy out there," McHale said.

The Thunder controlled the game from the opening tip, and were up 10 at the end of the first quarter. The second and third quarters is really where they put the game away though, as they outscored the Wolves 58-37 during that span and hit 21 on of their 40 field goal attempts. As usual, OKC was led by their big three of Durant, Jeff Green, who finished with 17 points, and Russell Westbrook, who came close to notching his second triple-double of the season with seven points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists.

The Thunder have won seven of their last 12 games and are now tied with the Timberwolves at the bottom of the Northwest Division at 20-50. After starting the season just 3-29, Oklahoma City has recorded a respectable 17-21 record.

McHale refused to make excuses for his team's poor performance.

"I can give you 50 excuses. I can give you four games in five nights, I can give you everybody's hurt, I can give your top guys aren't there, I can give you all kinds of stuff. The bottom line is you've got to go out there and play."

The Wolves will have to turn it around in a hurry, as they play in Atlanta tomorrow night to start another three-game road trip, this time against Eastern Conference opponents. All three teams have winning records.