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Defense Falters, Thunder Drops First One on Road Swing – OKC 120, MIN 131

MINNEAPOLIS – Coming into this one the Thunder knee the Minnesota Timberwolves were a highly talented group, particularly on the offensive end of the floor. At shootaround on Tuesday morning the team was locked in and focused. In the first quarter, Head Coach Billy Donovan’s squad ripped off a 17-4 run to regain control and punch back from an 11-0 Minnesota burst. 

After that, the Timberwolves got a boost from its bench in the form of Derrick Rose who hit five mid-range jump shots in the first half on his way to 19 total for the game. Karl-Anthony Towns got going from both the perimeter and interior with his remarkable combination of size and skill and racked up a game-high 41 points as the Thunder fell 131-120 on the road. 

“We started with really good energy,” said Donovan. “They made some tough shots and then I think they got going and as that first quarter started to wear on and it got into the second quarter I think some of our offensive struggles or missing shots, I don’t want to say it impacted us defensively, but that’s when you have to dig in more defensively.”

Game Highlights

The Thunder’s early offensive struggles (a 1-for-6 start) set a frustrating tone as Paul George returned from a three-game absence and the team as a whole re-adjusted to previous roles. On the back of that first quarter run, the amount of scoring Russell Westbrook spearheaded for his team was plenty to win a game like this on the road. The problem was the defense, which was a combination of not forceful enough, not connected enough and at times frankly unlucky. 

In the first half alone, Minnesota hit 9-of-11 midrange jump shots which is well, well above the NBA’s league average of 40 percent, and the Timberwolves also caught a couple breaks by both banking in a three and drawing a few cheap fouls with under three seconds left on the shot clock. 

Within the Thunder’s control, however, was its defensive force, or lack thereof, when it came to reacting defensively rather than pressuring Minnesota into mistakes or disjointed offense. Instead the Timberwolves were able to create advantage situations either with post ups and cuts, straight line drives or wide open three-pointers. In the first half, Minnesota shot 6-of-9 from the three-point line and for the game made 11-of-22 while also attacking the Thunder off the dribble and getting to the free throw line 35 times.

“Just helpside, being physical. We have to have a physical presence at each position,” point guard Russell Westbrook said. “For us to win, we have to be able to find (defensive force) and find a way to get it together.”

“More often than not, we gave up too many easy things,” said Donovan. “We did not contain the ball one-on-one. We had a hard time guarding them one-on-one off the dribble. We got beat on a constant basis.”

One action in particular was tricky for the Thunder, as Towns would set up like he was going to go set a screen for a guard like Rose or Jeff Teague on the wing. As soon as Adams ran over to set up in pick and roll coverage, Towns would bail out of the screen and pop back to the top of the key for a pass, using the split second of Adams’ recovery time to either attack off the dribble or knock down a jump shot.  

“I would yell something, the coverage for pick and roll, and jump into it, Towns won’t go. I’ll try and get (the guard) square and then as I go out that’s when they full-blow drive it,” Adams explained. “It’s stuff that we’ve dealt with before. We just have to clean up a few things here and there.”

Watch: Postgame Interviews

After the Timberwolves built a double-digit lead in the second quarter behind a whopping 41 points in the period, the Thunder was unable to ever cut the 18-point lead into single digits until the final minute of the game. Westbrook was a continual force throughout the game, attacking relentlessly downhill to keep the game alive. The Thunder point guard scored 13 points in the second quarter, 15 in the third quarter and another 8 in the fourth for a 38-point, 13-rebound, 6-assist stat line on 15-of-28 shooting including a 5-for-10 mark on three-pointers, most of which were catch-and-shoots.

In George’s return to action it was clear that the timing wasn’t quite there early on and he wasn’t his normally efficient self. After a 1-for-6 start, George went 7-of-19 the rest of the way and hit four three-pointers to pick up 25 points, though it took 25 field goal attempts. He did, however, make it through his first live game action in a week without any setbacks.

“I felt the rhythm was off, missing three games,” said George. “A little rusty. The rhythm was off a little bit, not only for myself but the rhythm with my guys out there. I feel fine, as much as I was getting tugged and grabbed, the shoulder held up. I made it through okay.”

Despite cutting the lead down to 10 at 90-80 then later at 120-110, the Thunder couldn’t manage to get enough consecutive stops or convert enough free throws (18-for-31 on the night) to get the job done. For the game, the Timberwolves shot 52.2 percent from the field and outscored the Thunder 50-34 in the paint in addition to a shocking 18-7 on points off turnovers, leaving Donovan’s group with some work to do before Thursday’s nationally televised matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers.

“For this group, it’s no way we should be having opponents shooting 60 percent for almost the whole game,” said George.