Stephen A. says he DID NOT RECOGNIZE the Thunder in Game 3 👀 | SportsCenter

Stephen A. says he DID NOT RECOGNIZE the Thunder in Game 3 👀 | SportsCenter

This is what you wanted from your star player out of the gate when you’re down 02. A three. It’s an Edwards eruption here in the first. 30 points for the Antman. The Timberwolves with a convincing dominant win and this series is now two games to one. A game three statement in Minnesota. The Wolves up 31 at the half. 13-year NBA veteran Quinton Richardson andscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. joining us now on Sports Center. Q. Starting with you, Wolves showed last night they weren’t ready to pack it up. What stood out most to you from game three? What stood out most to me was that they came out with the proper sense of urgency. They knew that this was this was a game that they could go down three 0, which nobody has come out from. Their superstar Ant-Man started from the very beginning of the game. He made it an emphasis to come out with energy to be offensively aggressive. He was scoring the ball. They gave their fans something to be involved. The fans were in it from start to finish. That that that target center was loud. It was crazy in there. And the team gave them something to cheer about from start to finish. From the starters to the guys that came off the bench, they did everything they needed to do in the game three to send the message to OKC that this series is not over. You guys simply did what you needed to do on your home court and now we’re going to do the same. Yeah, Q, I’m with you with that intensity, but I’m talking about I want to talk about the intensity on the defensive end from what we saw for that Minnesota Timberwolves squad. They were hitting those passing lanes. They were at the point of attack. Rudy Gobear was moving up on those guards. His hands were active. He was getting, as you see with that steel right there, he was getting at it. And they had an interesting strategy there. They moved back on their point of attack with SGA and Jaylen Williams. They were they were really getting SGA at the uh half court line on the first two games. They made him come up before they put that defensive pressure on him, which sounds counterintuitive, but it forced them into uncomfortable threes uh and shots like that. And the and the Thunder were not hitting those threes early. The turnovers were bad in that first half. 12 made field goals, nine turnovers. And a lot of that is that Minnesota defense gave the Thunder something to think about when they come back in game four. And Minnesota never took their foot off the gas. They scored at least 34 points in every quarter. David, for OKC, we talk about youth a lot. You know, how impressive it is for this bonafide championship contender. Was this just a a bad loss or or is it a bad sign for the Thunder? So, it’s just a bad loss for now because I do think they’re still the better team. But, this is indicative of a team that’s learning how to be great. And I look at game threes as chances for teams to show their greatness. You’re up 200 a lot of times when you’re a great team. And you can close the door on another team in those game threes on the road. And what we’ve seen from OKC so far in the playoffs were subpar game threes. They were down 30 against the Grizzlies uh until John Moran got hurt. They lost in overtime against the Nuggets and they just did not show that killer instinct. Like look at this play is indicative of that. At the end of the first quarter, you’re down 19. You’re trying to mount a comeback and you walk the ball up and get a 8second violation. To me, that is a sign of a team that took their foot off the gas and was not as focused as they should. SGA, four field goals made, four turnovers, and only four free throws. They did not have that killer instinct intensity that you need in a game three to close the door on a team that you should feel that you’re better than. Yeah, I I agree with two chains here, man. This was this was this was just a bad loss right now for me until something else happens and and something worse happens. It was just one game and that’s how OKC has to look at it. I mean, yes, it was a horrible, horrible performance, a lopsided victory. They got thumped last night. No way around it. They played bad. Minnesota played great. OKC has to keep it at that. This was one game. No matter if we lost by one point or by 50 points, it only counts for one. Now they got to regroup, come back game four. And they have to come out there on the Minnesota Timberwolves home foot with a sense of urgency and do what they have to do to get it done. Another subpar game three. How have they bounced back in previous game fours against Memphis? Completed the sweep against Denver. Game four in Denver. Held the Nuggets to 87 points. We’ll get the answer game four tomorrow night, 8:30 Eastern on ESPN. David Q, thank you. Phil and Amina back here with you on Sports Center. And that’s the sound of Wolves in the background. Game three, Thunder taking on the Timberwolves. The Wolves getting contributions in areas they didn’t get in games one and two. Hartinstein here with the miss. Anthony Edwards gets the loose ball, takes it the other way. Ah, you know, he was feeling it in this game. Edwards again with the steal, taking it down for another dunk. Edwards did not have a dunk in the first two games of this series. He had two in the first quarter. That means that Anthony Edwards, he was in his Birkin, as the kids say. Let’s take a look at some of the supporting cast. Terren Shannon Jr. came in making his presence felt. Finishes with the floater. Then Shannon gets the fast break. Finishes on the other end with the layup. Had nine points in the first half. Three of five from the field. Shannon had two total points in this series entering game three. How about Nas Reed gets the three to go and then Edward swinging it to Reed. Knocks down another three. He was 0 for 12 from beyond the arc in the first two games of this series. He finished with two or two from three in the first half. How about Julius Randle on defense with a closeout contest on Jayla Williams forcing a miss right there. Randall switches on SGA gets the contest right there on a step back jumper. Randall held OKC to 412 from the field on a primary defender. They win this one. Here’s the NBA countdown crew. Well, gentlemen, we just watched a tale of two entirely different teams. I thought we knew who the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Wolves were, and they seem to have freaky Fridayed in this game. Stephen A, what did you learn about Minnesota? I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about. Let’s let the world know that. I mean, I thought that they were going to come in here and say, “Well, I’m an honest man. It’s it’s a it’s a rare moment. Hold on to it, my brother. Hold on to it.” The bottom line is I expected the Minnesota Timberwolves to come in here looking at a team that couldn’t put the ball on the floor. Couldn’t really really score from the perimeter. Was getting pushed off the three-point line. Didn’t know what to do. And they hit 50% of their threes in in game in game three. 20 of 40. They shot 50% better than 50% from the field. I didn’t recognize this team tonight compared to what we saw in games one and two, but hats off to them. Ant-Man led the charge because he came out ultra aggressive. Julius Randle was putting the ball on the floor. Nas Reed and them came off the bench and they were making things happen. They deserve a lot of credit and hopefully this wasn’t a one-off. They show up and play like this in game four. We’ve got ourselves a series. So, what we saw tonight was the A+ version of the of the Timberwolves. Now the question is they don’t have to do this and I don’t expect this to happen again 40 points victory but they got to they they had a D minus C minus in Oklahoma City. So can they show up on on Monday with a B B+ A minus doesn’t have to be this. But they can’t I don’t see this happening again but they did it when they had to do it right. And the Thunder conversely that was I don’t I don’t know what that was cuz that’s not what we saw in Oklahoma City. That’s not what we’re used to for me understand why you win or why you lose. They didn’t turn the ball over tonight. Julius Randall got going and their bench was outstanding. Chris Finch went to Terrence Shannon Jr. Nine points in that second quarter. Huge coaching move by Finchy. Great job. And his guy delivered for him. Terrence Shannon Jr. outscored anybody on the Thunder squad. That That’s what we’re talking about in this game. I mean, look, he was new in the rotation, right? He probably wasn’t even in the Scotland report. So, that’s what ended up happening. You come in and all of a sudden you just hit them with hit them by surprise. But again, I’m looking at this Minnesota team and I compare them to like a iPhone, right? Like in what way? Hit me out to iPhone. We’ll try they signal been weak. You know why? Because they tower been down. You know who’s been that tower this entire season? This entire postseason, it’s been Julius Randall. All of a sudden, he come out, he had a plus 38. Now all of a sudden, them bars, them signals are stronger. You can hear me a little bit louder on the cell phone now. That’s what I’m looking at tonight. and he responded in great fashion after getting benched in the fourth quarter. Right. He didn’t feel sorry for himself. He came out there, he competed. I saw him getting engaged with the fans. He was dabbing up his teammates. True professional. That’s nice. And we’re going to see how OKC responds to that now cuz what were we raving about coming into this game, how elite their defense was. It was non-existent in game three. What’s going to happen in game four on the road? We were all standing back there in the back hallways of this arena as the Timberwolves were coming back in. There was no whooping. There was no hollering. There was no celebrating. This was the business that they expected to take care of. And now we move on to game four. Strictly business. This is what you wanted from your star player out of the gate when you’re down 02. Nails a three. It’s an Edwards eruption here in the first. 30 points for Antman the Timberwolves with a convincing dominant win. And this series is now two games to one. Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff joins us now on Sports Center. And coach, we we saw the Wolves jump all over the Thunder right out the gates. 34 points at a minimum in every quarter. complete reversal from what we saw in the first two games of the series. What stood out to you most from Minnesota in game three? Uh to me it was clear coach Finch’s message to his team was we were going to be aggressive defensively. Uh and when you take a look at the game, uh even Rudy Gobear, who’s typically back in his pick and roll coverage, was up and aggressive on the ball, you see him there getting the deflection and then getting them out in transition. And I think that was uh their point. They were going to be very, very aggressive. Put two guys on the ball every time SGAA had it. I think they took a page out of Oklahoma City’s defense as well. They were shrinking the floor even from the strong side corners, forcing those guys to make extra passes. And then obviously Anthony Edwards was unbelievable uh in his attack. I think he sent the message to his teammates that we’re getting after it tonight. And SGA even said postgame, it’s hard to get your offense going when you’re constantly picking the ball out of your own net. But but with OKC, I you know as well as anyone what it’s like to have a young team grow and get through growing pains. Game four tomorrow is going to be in an absolute hornets nest in Minneapolis. Was game three a bad loss or a bad sign for the Thunder? Uh I think it was just a bad loss. You know, I we’ve seen how capable they are. Uh we’ve seen how well coached they are, how well they’re led uh by SGA. Their role players are phenomenal. Jaylen Williams has been great in this series. So again, it’s one of those things where you have to feel the urgency that a team that’s down 02 is going to bring and then you understand what you have to do uh and how you have to raise your level to the uh competition so that you can get a win on the road. You know who with against a team whose back is against the wall. Coach, quickly, what adjustment would you make if you were OKC? Uh again, I thought they got good looks. Uh but you just have to be aware for the two on the ball and now you have to understand how you get the ball out of your hands a little quicker. Uh you put the ball in the hands of your big guy a little bit more and now he’s playing advantage basketball. Once you get their bigs up the floor, then you can play four on three. And with the amount of shooting that they have, uh they’re going to create easy opportunities for themselves. So much intrigue now heading into game four tomorrow night, 8:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. Coach JB Bickerstaff, thanks so much for joining us here this morning. Thank you. Appreciate you having me. [Music] [Applause] me with the heat. I’m on fire. [Applause]

On SportsCenter, Quentin Richardson and David Dennis Jr. join to discuss the Oklahoma City Thunder losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3, then the NBA Countdown crew reacts after the game. J.B. Bickerstaff also joins the show to talk about the Timberwolves cutting the series to 2-1.

0:00 Thunder losing to the Timberwolves in Game 3
4:30 Postgame reactions
9:39 J.B. Bickerstaff joins the show

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