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5 things that stood out from Timberwolves' Game 1 loss to Thunder

Turnovers, SGA's whistle, Julius Randle's strong start and more jumped out Tuesday night.
Nolan O'Hara|
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dribbles against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley and forward Jaden McDaniels (3) in the first quarter during Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 20, 2025.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dribbles against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley and forward Jaden McDaniels (3) in the first quarter during Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 20, 2025. | Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images

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Minnesota Timberwolves

If the Minnesota Timberwolves want to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, they'll have to overcome a 1-0 series deficit after falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday night.

For more than a half, it was a tight game, but the Thunder ultimately pulled away and turned it into a 114-88 blowout. The Wolves have some course correcting to do before Game 2, so here's a look at five things that stood out from Game 1:

Turnovers

Arguably the biggest key for the Wolves in this series is limiting turnovers, and that's something they didn't do in Game 1. Minnesota had 19 giveaways that turned into 31 points for the Thunder. Jalen Williams had a whopping five steals, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had three and Lu Dort added a pair. The Wolves turned their back to Williams one too many times, and the sloppy play they're sometimes prone to simply won't fly against OKC like it did against the Golden State Warriors.

The Thunder were scoring a playoff-best 24.7 points per game off turnovers entering this series, and they topped that Tuesday. They will routinely make the Wolves pay for any mistakes, and there's some cleaning up to do entering Game 2.

SGA's whistle

There were no shortage of Timberwolves fans yelling at their TV as Gilgeous-Alexander, like he so often does, found his way to the free-throw line at a high rate. He made 11 of 14 from the charity stripe on his way to a game-high 31 points.

Gilgeous-Alexander gets to the free-throw line often, no doubt, but for all the whining, moaning and complaining from Wolves fans on social media, that was hardly the deciding factor in this game, and more a result of a quick whistle all around. Fouls were dead even between the two teams — with each being whistled for a whopping 22 fouls apiece.

Edwards may have had half the free-throw attempts as Gilgeous-Alexander (7), but he also took half as many shots (13 to 27). Jaden McDaniels may have fouled out, but Dort had five fouls and Isaiah Hartenstein had four for the Thunder, too.

Tuesday's game was more a reflection of what seems to be flip flopping officiating styles between crews in the NBA playoffs — there have been call everything games (Tuesday was certainly that as just about any contact resulted in a whistle) and call nothing games (see Warriors-Rockets series). The Wolves tend to do well in the games with less frequent of a whistle. They'll need to figure out how to handle OKC in games like Tuesday where calls are bountiful and often weak.

Julius Randle's big first half

Randle had a dominant start as he led the Wolves to a 48-44 halftime lead. Randle knocked down 6-of-8 shots from the field, including 5 for 6 from 3-point range, on his way to 20 points at the break. He was able to get wherever he wanted, and his efforts helped offset some shooting struggles that continue to linger from the Wolves. But Randle was shut out in the third quarter and attempted just one shot, and meanwhile, OKC closed the frame on a 20-6 run for a 10-point lead.

Randle got going again in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points on 3-for-4 shooting, but it was too little, too late as the Thunder weren't going to let their double-digit advantage slip away. The Timberwolves' second-half struggles could largely be attributed to going away from Randle in the third quarter — a frame in which they mustered just 18 points.

No-show in second half

Nothing went right for the Wolves in the second half. Their defense was lacking, the shots still weren't falling and they went away from Randle, who was the driver of their offensive success in the first half. They shot just 6 for 19 (32%) in the third quarter, including 3 for 13 (23%) from 3 as the Thunder won those 12 minutes by a 14-point margin. Wolves coach Chris Finch felt their rushed offense affected them on the defensive end; OKC shot 62% in the third quarter (13 for 21).

The Thunder did it over again in the fourth quarter, again shooting 13 for 21 from the field, but scoring an even higher total of 38 points while holding Minnesota to just 22. The Wolves' eight second-half turnovers also turned into nine Thunder points. There just wasn't much to like in the second half as the defense disappeared and the offense just never caught on.

Jaylen Clark stint

Clark had only seen end-of-game minutes in the playoffs leading up to the Western Conference finals, but as Rudy Gobert fell into some early foul trouble, the rookie guard found himself in the game right away in the first quarter. He didn't play big minutes — just six for the night — but he made an impact, getting an offensive board and a putback right off the bat.

Clark finished with three points and two rebounds. Whether he'd get some time in this series was an interesting question coming in as he was one of Minnesota's more effective defenders against Gilgeous-Alexander during the regular season — three of the Wolves' four games against OKC came when Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and Gobert were injured.

Matchup data wasn't immediately available following the game, but the eye test would say Clark once again did an impressive job in his minutes against Gilgeous-Alexander. And one has to wonder if he could be in line for more minutes in this series, particularly as DiVincenzo and Nickeil Alexander-Walker struggle. DiVincenzo had nine points on 3-for-14 shooting while Alexander-Walker shot 3 for 11 on his way to eight points Tuesday. Clark is arguably Minnesota's best defender against Gilgeous-Alexander, and right now, those ahead of him aren't giving reasons to keep him on the bench.

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Nolan O'Hara
NOLAN O'HARA

Nolan O'Hara covers all things Minnesota sports, primarily the Timberwolves, for Bring Me The News and Sports Illustrated's On SI network. He previously worked as a copy editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism. His work has appeared in the Pioneer Press, Ratchet & Wrench magazine, the Minnesota Daily and a number of local newspapers in Minnesota, among other publications.

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