Last night, the Thunder had a golden opportunity to go up 3-0 in the West Finals, and push the Wolves into a hole no team in NBA history has ever come out of. But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. seemingly took their eyes off the prize. Instead of beating the Wolves, they got blown out by a whopping 42 points, OKC’s biggest loss in these playoffs. And SGA knew exactly where they went wrong.

“We just didn’t bring it from energy and focus standpoint. To sum it up, we just didn’t have it.” He said, during the postgame presser. Yes, OKC was never in control, as they got outscored 34-14 in the opening quarter. It was all downhill from there. SGA continued, “They obviously had it with the sense of urgency, knowing like they go down 3-0 its gonna be pretty tough. And we just what it felt like just eased into the game and they blitzed us pretty early and then we were never able to get back because of it. Yeah, they just came out with a sense of urgency and we didn’t.”

Realizing Thunder’s crucial mistake, Shai sent a stern message to his locker room for Monday’s encounter, “We gotta start come out with a sense of urgency and then see where the game leads.” However, the message had no effect on his teammate Jalen Williams, who seemed unbothered by the 42-point loss.

“You just kinda gotta scrap it. We’ll look back and obviously, we’ll have a good game plan in place but a lot of it too is just like you gotta kinda come out ready to play. Can’t be surprised by how, obviously they’re down in this series, so you can’t be too shocked at like how they come out,” Williams said. Moreover, the forward did not make a big deal of the blowout loss, “It’s just a loss like regardless of how many points. Like we’ve been on the other end of that and it’s just, now its 2-1. That’s how we have to think about it. I mean in college I’ve lost by 60. So, it can always be worse.”

Also, Jalen looked a bit out of focus, unlike what Shai wanted to see, as he was frequently using his phone during the presser and had an unfazed demeanor. Maybe it was just the calm before the storm!

Jalen Williams blames bad defense for OKC’s offensive struggles as he reveals plan for Game 4

Well, a major reason Thunder lost last night was that their offense just wasn’t clicking. Their best scorer, SGA, struggled all game, finishing with only 14 points on 4 of 13 shooting. And no other player stepped up to make up for it either. According to Jalen, one key factor affected the fluidity of their offense: “Our defense was not very good so it’s hard to get any flow of offense when you’re taking the ball out every play.”

Yes, OKC was not as locked in on defense as they usually are. They grabbed only 31 rebounds as compared to the Wolves’ 50. Plus, they failed to force turnovers on their opponents, which is the reason Shai and Co. did not get many opportunities to score.

Although Jalen kept a calm demeanor after the loss, he understood where his team needed to improve in the next game. “Playing with more of an edge. Not being shocked like how they’re gonna play, especially down in this series. Obviously, they had some success tonight, so they’re gonna come out like that again. Just not being shocked by that I think will be a really good start for us and we can kind of go from there,” he remarked, revealing the mindset for Monday’s encounter.

Well, it is arguably the most important game of this series because a win for OKC will put them in a commanding position before heading home for the next encounter. Whereas, a win for the Timberwolves will even the series and shift the momentum in their favor. So, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. need to lock in if they want to return to OKC with a 3-1 lead. Do you think they can learn from last night’s mistakes and get the job done on Monday?