The Oklahoma City Thunder are just two wins away from their first NBA Finals appearance since 2012 after dominating the third quarter on their way to a 118-103 Game 2 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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The second game of the Western Conference semifinals series was well and truly in the balance at halftime, even after Oklahoma City finished with a flurry to end the second quarter, taking a 58-50 lead.
But the Thunder outscored the Timberwolves 35-21 in the third to open up a 93-71 buffer entering the final quarter and despite Anthony Edwards’ best efforts, it wasn’t enough to lift Minnesota off the canvas.
Edwards, who teammate Mike Conley said was “angry” after an underwhelming game in the series opener, was aggressive in finding his shot early and finished on 32 points.
It meant little in the end though as Julius Randle struggled (six points, four turnovers) while Rudy Gobert (five points) and Mike Conley (three points) also failed to get anything going.
In fact, Randle — who had 28 points in Game 1 after averaging 25.2 in the series against Golden State — was benched for the entire fourth quarter.
The Thunder, on the other hand, were led by another standout game from freshly crowned MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 38 points, while Jalen Williams (26 points) and Chet Holmgren (22 points) assisted the franchise superstar perfectly.
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Gilgeous-Alexander had his fingerprints all over the game from the very start, scoring six-straight points midway through the first quarter as the Thunder took a 23-15 lead.
Oklahoma City were up 29-25 after the first period despite shooting just 1-for-8 from downtown, with the Thunder doing plenty of damage in the paint (14 points) and at the free throw line (6-for-6).
Edwards, meanwhile, scored or assisted on 16 of Minnesota’s 25 points while he also pulled down six rebounds in the opening quarter for the first time in his career.
It was the exact version of Edwards that the Timberwolves needed to match the Thunder and he kept it going in the second quarter, driving to the rim for an and-1 to answer back after two quick Alex Caruso 3-pointers.
Edwards had already matched his total field goals attempted in Game 1 with just under five minutes left in the second and Oklahoma City leading 45-44.
But Gilgeous-Alexander took over late in the period, scoring Oklahoma City’s last 11 points, to help the Thunder to a 58-50 halftime lead.
Still, it felt like the Timberwolves were very much in the game. That changed quickly though.
Minnesota shot 0-for-6 from deep and made just 42 per cent of its field goal attempts in the third on the way to being out-scored 35-21 in the period.
That left the Timberwolves needing to play catch-up in front of a deafening Paycom Center crowd and despite some big shots from Edwards, the Thunder held strong to close it out.
The series now heads to Minnesota, with Game 3 scheduled for Sunday at 10.30am (AEST).
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