Timberwolves blitzed again in third quarter to fall down 2-0 in West Finals

Oklahoma City At the start of this season Timberwolves coach Chris Finch solicited his company whether it was a Western Conference Finals company a year ago or if it was completely a squad that reached the Western Conference Finals A similarly pertinent question could be inquired of Minnesota through two games of this year s conference title round Are the Timberwolves a title contender or merely one of the last four teams still playing Right now Minnesota looks a lot like the latter The Wolves were thoroughly out-played again Thursday in Battle getting their doors blown off in the third quarter en way to a - loss in Oklahoma City Minnesota now trails the best of series - with Competition at Target Center on Saturday at p m Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received the MVP trophy on the floor ahead of the tournament and proceeded to show everyone why he received the honor in the minutes that followed The superstar guard scored points to go with eight assists His wingman Jalen Williams tacked on points Still Minnesota was down just three late in the first half thanks to a few hot -point shooting out of the gates But that s where the wheels began to fall off Oklahoma City closed the frame on a - run to take an eight-point advantage into the break Then the floodgates opened in the third The Thunder scored points in the third quarter including a - run that put the competition out of question Minnesota was down at the end of the frame The Timberwolves played two quarters of good offense but at this point it looks as though perfection may be required to contend in this series with the -win Thunder They ll have another chance Saturday to produce just that or at least something close to it in what now looks like a must-win match back in Minneapolis