Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I know it’s the right strategy, but I still hated seeing the Thunder foul intentionally while up by three late in the game.
In today’s SI:AM:
⛈️ Thunder on the doorstep
🏈 SEC’s controversial leader
🥍 Cornell’s championship moment
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They needed more out of him
After being held to just 18 points on 13 shot attempts in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals last week, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards knew exactly what he needed to do to get his team back in the series.
“I’ve definitely got to shoot more,” Edwards said. “I only took 13 f---ing shots.”
Well, guess what happened in Game 4 last night with Minnesota trailing 2–1 in the series. He only took 13 f---ing shots again.
Edwards was held to 16 points—just the fourth time in 41 career playoff games that he failed to score at least 18 points—and the Oklahoma City Thunder held on for a 128–126 victory to take a 3–1 series lead. They can close out the series tomorrow night in OKC.
It isn’t as though Edwards wasn’t trying to get more involved offensively. The Thunder’s league-best defense just made life difficult for him all night long. Edwards was blanketed by Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso throughout the game and forced to try to let other players pick up the slack. And they did. With star forward Julius Randle also contained (five points on 1-of-7 shooting), Minnesota’s bench players stepped up. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 23 points and Donte DiVincenzo had 21. Starter Jaden McDaniels, who averaged 12.2 points per game in the regular season, had 22.
Edwards, though, tried to keep things in perspective.
“I don’t look at it like I struggled,” he said after the game. “They had a good game plan, making us get off the ball—especially for me, man, they was super in gaps. I made the right play all night. So I don’t look at it like I struggled. I didn’t get enough shots to say I struggled. That might be how you guys look at it, but, yeah, I didn’t struggle at all, I made the right play.”
Edwards may have a point. Passing the ball to an open teammate while being harassed by an elite defender might be the right call. But at some point, it becomes incumbent on Edwards to try to counter what the Thunder are doing to him. And he’s already shown that he’s capable of being his usual self against OKC, having scored 32 points in Game 2 and 30 in Game 3.
Edwards’s lack of shot attempts wasn’t the only problem for Minnesota. The T-Wolves also turned the ball over 23 times (five each by Edwards and Randle) and allowed the Thunder to collect 19 offensive rebounds, the most by a Minnesota opponent this postseason.
“The offensive rebounds and turnovers, if you take away the junk points, it’s a whole different game,” DiVincenzo said.
Given everything that went wrong for the T-Wolves, they were fortunate that the game was as close as it was. But the Thunder were able to hold Minnesota at an arm’s length all night long. OKC led for the final 16 minutes of the game, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lived up to his status as MVP by knocking down seven clutch free throws in the final minutes to allow the Thunder to maintain their lead.
The Thunder’s ability to play 48 minutes of excellent basketball and close out a hard-fought game on the road puts them on the brink of their first NBA Finals appearance since 2012. For the Timberwolves, winning three straight games against the best team in the league to save their season is a monumental task. If Edwards doesn’t become assertive, it’ll be an impossible one.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is attempting to reshape college athletics, but as Pat Forde writes, the executive’s methods are not well-received. Rory McIlroy is missing another signature event.
- Bob Harig explains that the world’s No. 2-ranked player’s participation decisions are more nuanced.
- The Carolina Hurricanes' drought ended when they ended their 15-game losing streak in the conference finals. On Monday evening, the Hurricanes beat Florida 3–0 on the road, narrowing the Panthers' series lead to 3–1.
- Paige Bueckers is back in Connecticut, but this time as a professional athlete, as the Dallas Wings meet the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night.
- Houston Texans rookie wide receiver Jaylin Noel talks Iowa State football, including his college quarterback, Brock Purdy, getting a big payday.
- Caitlin Clark will be sidelined at least two weeks due to a quad injury.
- The Cornell Big Red beat the Maryland Terrapins for their first men’s lacrosse national championship in nearly 50 years.
- An ugly scene unfolded in the stands during the first match between the LA Galaxy and MLS newcomers San Diego FC.
The top five…
… things I saw yesterday:
5. Doris Burke’s call of Rudy Gobert’s dunk on Isaiah Hartenstein.
4. Logan Stankoven’s snipe for the Hurricanes’ first goal in their win over the Panthers.
3. The Padres’ win on a walk-off wild pitch.
2. Cornell senior CJ Kirst’s goal in the fourth quarter of his team’s national championship victory tied the NCAA single-season goals record (82). He was already the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer.
1. An outstanding defensive play by Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Anthony Edwards Held in Check Again as Timberwolves Face Elimination.
