After lopsided loss to the Minnesota Wolves, the Oklahoma City Thunder promise to respond in Game 4

Minneapolis – The sting of a 42-point loss has lingered for Oklahoma City Thunder guard and National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

On May 26 (May 27, Singapore time), the guard and his teammates will try to prove that Game 3 was an aberration instead of a crack in the team’s foundation.

The Thunder will tip off against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals in Minneapolis.

Oklahoma City have a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series but are coming off a 143-101 drubbing on May 24.

Gilgeous-Alexander said the embarrassing loss should serve as a wake-up call.

“We don’t try to go out like that, I promise you,” the 26-year-old said. “But whatever it is, we’ve got to figure it out if we want to reach our ultimate goals.

“That’s what the days in between are for, to get better.”

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves are eager to build upon a big win as they look to even the tie. A loss would put them on the verge of elimination, with the series shifting back to Oklahoma City for Game 5.

Timberwolves centre Rudy Gobert said the team’s approach should be simple.

“We know who we are,” he said, “so just be ourselves.”

Anthony Edwards leads the Timberwolves with 26.7 points per game through the series’ first three contests. Julius Randle is averaging 19.3 points, and Jaden McDaniels is scoring 13.0 points per game.

Gilgeous-Alexander leads the Thunder with 27.7 points per game in the series. Jalen Williams (19.3) and Chet Holmgren (15.7) round out Oklahoma City’s big three.

Holmgren expressed confidence that he and his teammates can bounce back in their second straight game in Minnesota.

He acknowledged how the Timberwolves regrouped after losing the first two games of the series, and he said it was up to Oklahoma City to find ways to reassert themselves.

“We have to do the exact same thing they did (after Game 2),” Holmgren said.

“We have to go back and watch and see why what they did worked, and then figure out how to counter that.”

Gilgeous-Alexander presented it as a choice for the Thunder. He scored 31 points in Game 1 and 38 points in Game 2, but he struggled on May 24 as he finished with 14 points on four-for-13 shooting.

“(In) a long season, you get punched,” he said. “It’s about getting back up. It’s about responding. That’s what the challenge is.

“We got punched in the mouth (in Game 3). Next game, we’re either going to get back up or not… We have a decision to make, for sure.”

One player who can expect more playing time is Timberwolves rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. He came off the bench to score 15 points in Game 3, and he impressed teammates and coaches alike with his physical drives to the rim.

“I’ve been wrestling with getting another guy in the rotation,” said Timberwolves coach Chris Finch. “A guy that could stretch the floor in transition, be a downhill player, got a good body, physicality…

“You’re definitely going to see him more.”

Meanwhile on May 25, the New York Knicks overturned a 20-point deficit as they fought back to beat the Indiana Pacers 106-100 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Knicks cut Indiana’s series lead to 2-1 and after losing both games at their Madison Square Garden home, they are now right back in the battle for a place in the NBA Finals.

Karl-Anthony Towns starred for the Knicks with 24 points – 20 of them in an explosive fourth-quarter performance – and he contributed 15 rebounds as New York recorded their joint-largest comeback in a play-off game.

Jalen Brunson added 23 points but had five fouls and had to sit out stretches of the game, although the Knicks never let up when he was on the bench.

“When I got a chance to do what I do in the fourth, I was going to make sure I seized the opportunity,” Towns said. “I just wanted to go there to give our team a chance to win.”

The Pacers must now regroup for Game 4 on May 27, having let a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead slip from their grasp.

Tyrese Haliburton scored 20 points and Myles Turner had 19 for the fourth-seeded Indiana. Pascal Siakam had 17 points and T.J. McConnell tallied 12 for the Pacers, who had just 42 second-half points. REUTERS, AFP

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