WASHINGTON
\nAnthony Edwards scored 30 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves overwhelmed Oklahoma City 143-101 on Saturday to tighten their NBA playoff series. Edwards added nine rebounds and six assists while shooting 12-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range as the host T-Wolves pulled a game back to be 2-1 behind in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.
\n\u201cI was super happy about the physicality and energy we brought,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cBeing down 2-0, it\u2019s all about bringing energy and we brought high energy.\u201d Julius Randle added 24 points for Minnesota, which set a club record for points in a playoff game in ripping the NBA regular-season win leaders and NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who managed only 14 points.
\n\u201cWe got punched in the mouth,\u201d said Gilgeous-Alexander. \u201cYou get punched, it\u2019s about getting back up. It\u2019s about responding. That\u2019s what the next challenge is.\u201dThe Thunder, who won the first two games at home, face game four on Monday at Minneapolis and game five on Wednesday at Oklahoma City.
\n\u201cI know everyone is happy about this one but we know OKC is going to come out and bring hella-energy and they are going to be ready to go and going to try to win game four and we\u2019ve got to try and exceed their energy and get a win,\u201d Edwards said.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll be ready.\u201dMinnesota\u2019s victory was crucial because no team has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA playoff series. \u201cWe just didn\u2019t bring it from an energy and focus standpoint,\u201d said Gilgeous-Alexander.
\n\u201cWe just didn\u2019t have it. They had the sense of urgency knowing if they go down 3-0 it\u2019s going to be pretty tough. \u201cThey blitzed us pretty early and we were never able to get back. We\u2019ve got to start coming out with a sense of urgency.\u201d
\nThe T-Wolves set a club record for points in a playoff game and led by as much as 129-84 late in the fourth quarter. \u201cWe do have to look at it and address the things that went awry for us,\u201d said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. \u201cThey really took it to us. \u201cThey were just much more physical, much sharper, executed better, more forceful on offense.
\nFor the score to be what it was, they needed to outplay us in a lot of areas and that\u2019s what they did.\u201d Randle was benched late in game two and unhappy about it but responded by taking out his frustrations on the Thunder. \u201cHe knows not to take nothing too personal,\u201d Edwards said of Randle. \u201cI could see it in his eyes. He wanted his respect back and he got it.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON Anthony Edwards scored 30 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves overwhelmed Oklahoma City 143-101 on Saturday to tighten their NBA playoff series. Edwards added nine rebounds and six assists while shooting 12-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range as the host T-Wolves pulled a game back to be 2-1 behind in the best-of-seven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-480844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n