Thunder report card: OKC has no answer for Karl-Anthony Towns in loss to Timberwolves
The Thunder’s 120-95 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night was quite the letdown, after the exhilaration of OKC’s 123-118 rousing win over New Orleans in the first round of the NBA play-in tournament Wednesday.
But that’s what you get with a stunningly young team that started 20-year-olds Jaylin Williams and Josh Giddey, plus 22-year-old Jalen Williams, whose birthday was Friday.
The report card is rough, but what do you expect from a team that trailed by as many as 29 points?
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: D
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made just three of 12 first-half shots. But unlike much of the season, Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t follow a rough first half with a spectacular second half. SGA made just two of seven second-half shots. And while Gilgeous-Alexander made all 12 of his foul shots, eight of those came in a flurry of 2:15 in the third quarter, after he returned from a blow to the face that cut him above and below the eye. SGA’s cousin, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, was a surprise starter and did a great job guarding Gilgeous-Alexander. But Minnesota also bothered SGA with an occasional zone defense and constant shading of potential drives, threatening to double team Gilgeous-Alexander at any time. SGA made 53.3% of his 2-point shots this season but made just five of 18 Friday night. Three of his five makes were on longer jumpers of between 16 and 18 feet.
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Defending Karl-Anthony Towns: D
Minnesota bucks the trend of small-ball lineups, starting both 7-foot-3 Rudy Gobert and 7-foot Karl-Anthony Towns. The latter is a superb offensive player, and the Thunder had no answer for him. Towns scored 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting. His back-to-back 3-point plays in the third quarter, after the Thunder had cut the Timberwolf lead to 70-62, helped blow open the game. Both fouls came against Jalen Williams, who was assigned the task of guarding Towns despite a six-inch size disadvantage. Mark Daigneault tried Luguentz Dort covering Towns occasionally in the second half, but it made little difference.
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Dealing with mismatches: C
It wasn’t just Towns who gave the Thunder trouble. Gobert scored 21 points, making nine of 14 foul shots, his most attempts all season. The Thunder repeatedly was beaten on lobs to Gobert, as 6-foot-8 OKC center Jaylin Williams was outsized. But the Thunder didn’t get bullied on the backboards; Minnesota’s rebounding advantage was just 54-50, which is nothing considering the Timberwolves outshot OKC by 15.8 percentage points.
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Rim scoring: D
The Thunder has been perhaps the NBA’s best driving team, but the Timberwolves turned back OKC. Jalen Williams got one just shot in the restricted area and missed it. Josh Giddey was 1-of-5. Gilgeous-Alexander 2-of-7. Luguentz Dort 2-of-6. That’s 5-of-19 from the Thunder’s primary attackers. The Timberwolves blocked eight shots, and that’s without any from Gobert. The Thunder did go 15-of-16 from the line on fouls in the deep paint. But OKC was outscored 75-44 on points in the paint.
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Defending Anthony Edwards: B
Dort drew the assignment of guarding Edwards and did a fine job. The blossoming star scored 19 points but needed 19 shots (making eight) and didn’t get to the foul line. Edwards played a solid floor game (six assists, two turnovers) but never got loose for a big game.
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Ballhandling: D
The Thunder committed 17 turnovers, which is a high number for a team that averaged just 13 a game this season. But worse was the careless nature of some of the giveaways. A ball going through Dario Saric’s hands. Another going through SGA’s hands. A dribble bouncing off Isaiah Joe’s foot. Lots of unforced errors for a team that committed just seven turnovers the entire game Wednesday night at New Orleans.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder can't stop Karl-Anthony Towns in loss to Timberwolves
