Oklahoma City Thunder

Westbrook’s Big Night Not Enough For Oklahoma City In Loss To Minnesota

Craig Hofeld

bustersbest09

Published on March 5, 2019

Rapid Recap

The Thunder got off to a slow start in Minnesota on Tuesday night. The Timberwolves opened the game with a 13-3 lead. At one point, it seemed like the Thunder would never score more than 3 points. It was well beyond four minutes into the game before OKC scored again. Shortly after that the Thunder went on a 17-4 run to take the lead. The offense was just clicking for the Thunder. However, after the second unit entered the game to close the quarter, Minnesota went on a 13-6 run to hold a 30-24 lead after twelve minutes.

The Timberwolves did a great job at building on the momentum they gained at the end of the first quarter. They came out and essentially couldn’t miss. The only savior for the Thunder was Russell Westbrook. After shooting 1-6 in the first, Russ shot 5-7 for 13 points in the second quarter. Although the Timberwolves held on to a solid lead, Westbrook at least kept the Thunder within reach. No matter what OKC did, Minnesota always had an answer. They led 71-57 at halftime.

Russell Westbrook had another great quarter to start the second half. He ended up with 15 points in the third. However, once again it wasn’t enough. The Thunder got outscored in both of the quarters in the first half, and the third was no different. Oklahoma City simply couldn’t get enough stops to get back into the game. The Thunder was streaky on offense, and wasn’t playing much defense. That combination isn’t exactly the recipe to winning a game. The Timberwolves led 102-87 heading into the final quarter.

The Thunder certainly had some catching up to do in the final twelve minutes. Unfortunately for OKC, the Timberwolves shot 8 free throws in the first three minutes of the quarters. Giving your opponents free points while the clock is stopped isn’t exactly the way to make a 15 point comeback. Despite a few big shots from Russ and Paul George, the Thunder weren’t able to get back into this one. The Timberwolves coasted to a 131-120 win over the Thunder.

Thunder Player of the Game

Russell Westbrook was just about the only thing the Thunder had at times in this game. Russ hasn’t had many great shooting games this season, but tonight he shot pretty well. It’s very unfortunate to waste such a great performance. Russ was doing it all tonight, but he had no help from any of his teammates. He produced 38 points on 15-28 shooting (5-10 3PT), 13 rebounds, and 6 assists. Despite the loss, this was one of Russell Westbrook’s better performances this season.

On to the City of Roses

The Thunder will have a late tip-off on Thursday night as they head to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers. The game will start at 9:30, and will be televised on TNT. It will also be broadcast on the radio at WWLS 98.1 FM.

Be sure to follow @TheThunderGuys on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook, and don’t forget to check out our latest episode of Thunder Things with the Thunder Guys on Facebook, YouTube, or TalkShoe.

Tags: , ,

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: