Minnesota's seen worse

Wolves fans went down 0-2 last week and thought they spotted a low point.

Low point? Timberwolves fans, trying to tell us about low points?

A mini-comeback falls short on the road against the best team in basketball, low point? Minnesota returns home for two games with an 0-2 deficit, that's no low point.

No, low points are sitting through summer after summer as the NBA's lead punchline, taking over from Isiah's Knicks and Sterling's Clippers, drafting two point guards ahead of Stephen Curry. Who's running that team? The same guy who, one summer later, called Darko Milicic (joining his fifth team in four years) a "manna from heaven." Same guy who traded Ty Lawson for Luke Babbitt for Martell "Whatever" Webster to save money and satisfy Pacific Northwestern obligations.

Low points? That would be introducing the NBA into the basic cable dregs of the realitysphere, via Rashad McCants' (off-court only) nose for the rebound. A low point is trading a coach with a 20-20 record ahead of the race for the playoffs, hiring a guy who'd go 12-30.

Low point is using the season before Ricky Rubio's rookie year to tank around Kevin Love, pull the fourth pick, use it on Wesley Johnson, and publicly imbue Wesley Johnson with all the do-it-all properties we'd later see to an All-Star degree in No. 9 pick Gordon Hayward and No. 10 pick Paul George.

Low point is ... well, to me the Jimmy Butler Practice is hilarious. I'm wrong for this, a bad person and biased basketball analyst, I can't help it.

But Joe Smith? Isaiah Rider for Paul Grant?

Rescuing Dean Garrett, losing him to the Nuggets as a free agent. Trading a future first-round pick (Morris Peterson) and the rights to Zelly Rebraca to rescue Bobby Jackson and re-acquire Garrett, losing Jackson as a free-agent. Watching Garrett fade and Rebraca and (Sixth Man of the Year winner) Jackson and Peterson act as key reserve and starting cogs for teams making the second round of the playoffs, which Minnesota repeatedly could not. Signing Chauncey Billups in 2001 (acquired by Denver in 1999 in the same trade which netted Minnesota Jackson and Garrett), only to lose him as a free agent to Detroit in 2003.

More a longwinded point than a low point. But still pretty low.

Minnesota is not young. It relies on 32-year old Rudy Gobert and the win-now additions of veterans Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, who did the most of anyone to ensure the Timberwolves lost Thursday evening. Anthony Edwards is 23 but his teammates gotta hurry this up, Minnesota needs to win now in ways the Thunder (young throughout) cannot comprehend (unless they look deep and then deeper into Mike Conley's eyes).

This is a reason to root for Minnesota, and this is the reason the Timberwolves pulled it together on Saturday. Oklahoma City had one quick evening to figure it out, less than a half-hour to end someone's season. Minnesota's vets wouldn't let it happen.

ESPN announced at Game 3's tip that the Thunder were +91 turnovers over 13 postseason contests, that is good, what wasn't as strong was OKC's nine-to-four turnover disadvantage to the Wolves in Game 3's first half. Chris Finch's Timberwolves were up to novel things, like forcing Thunder scorers to finish with their off hands, or hitting open corner threes of Minnesota's own.

Then Terrance Shannon Jr. pops off the bench, the man who always made you smile in the regular season, pulling it off in the playoffs. The Thunder are frustrated, Lu Dort leads with both hands while checking the home team, daring the referee to pop a whistle, begging some teammate to return what Jaden McDaniels did to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Shai's MVP night, Jaden shoving Shai because Shai loves stopping short, that's Shai's move.

Suddenly Alex Rodriguez bounds off his seat, cheering for Shannon as if A-Rod's ever gonna pay this guy. Minnesota works over the best defense in the NBA for 60 points in 20 minutes, 72 in 24, 72-41 at half but so what, comebacks happen, OKC makes it looks like opponents forget how to score basketball shots for whole games at a time.

And Mike Breen mentions the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history without discussing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's role in all of it:

But OKC did not push. The Thunder started Isaiah Joe, the correct move, but Joe and Shai took turns whiffing defensively. The same Gilgeous-Alexander who used to take delight in driving at Edwards took pause instead,

The conversation almost shifts, from OKC Greatness to they did what they had to do at home, so did we.

Game 4 begins with a tie score, every Minnesota mitigating factor up for a reemergence. Jaden McDaniels disappointed in search of Shai in Oklahoma, who was rolled into Rudy Gobert, Gobert treated like he wasn't there. The MVP still has to hit those shots, that gorgeous fallaways, then we hand it to him. Minnesota's issue ain't Rudy, Game 3 proved as much, but the memories linger.

OKC hasn't found a way to consistently revel in Isaiah Hartenstein's gifts, leaving him open at the dunker's spot is like allowing Ray Allen entrance into a wide-open three-point corner. This is the Moody Chet season, fine, if he plays freely the Thunder can have some fun, Holmgren making plays in space.

Not Lu Dort, which the Timberwolves encouraged down the stretch of Game 2's mini-comeback. Minnesota also encouraged that zone, somewhat abandoned since. Alex Caruso was the only one who knew to cut inside of it because Alex Caruso is surrounded by NBA players.

Minnesota's side is all encouragement, the Timberwolves know they need to score around the goal and to clear space for Edwards and his pull-up threes. Every member of the rotation enjoyed a moment thus far, Nickeil Alexander-Walker playing well throughout. Which makes sense, he has family in town.

The Timberwolves are improving, this is not a typical No. 6 seed, the team is young in correct places and still reeling from a major trade made in training camp. Minnesota hasn't played its best basketball yet, the Thunder just displayed its worst.

Each team has a blueprint, let's see who gets to what spots, which points.

Game 4 in Minneapolis on Monday at 8:42 PM Eastern on ESPN

JULIUS RANDLE

A coach has to find token minutes for a player, only because of what it represents. This the NBA, famous professional ball, coaches can't just shrug shoulders and claim consistency when they know it will carry over.

Here's hoping nothing bubbles up again. Game 3 did well to repress things:

There are players who can handle sitting whole quarters, shown on national TV throughout, tempestuous X-Factors typically not among this group.

Richard Jefferson wanted Randle to get over it and Richard is right, but Richard Jefferson can handle being shelved for an entire fourth quarter in a way Lamar Odom or Austin Reaves may not.

In less ethereal moans, it would also help to find a Timberwolves player who knows how to make the appropriate entry pass to a left-hander.

THE MVP

It is on.

Shai's gift bag is only the beginning. The next step is cars, tricked-out SUVs donated by inexpensive automaker currently partnered with the NBA.

A step below this, but potentially more telling, is the MVP giving a free vacation to each of his teammates. Will it be scheduled together, or are these open destinations? If they are with teammates, who wants to party with the office's unofficial boss?

Shai opened this up and I am grateful for the future insight.

BOY EXECUTIVES

Nerds were never going to rule the NBA, but they did succeed in riling up the jocks, laying bare the idea of scouting for greatness. A waste, obviously, when they hand you print outs of the box score after every quarter. This division allowed the money to make its final power grab, eventually turning both jocks and nerds replaceable.

Josh Kroenke will run the Nuggets now. Mat Ishbia will run the Suns, Mat cleared out James Jones and dropped enough leakage on his obstacles who knew Mat when (agent's kid-turned-GM hopeful Josh Bartelstein is accused of an inappropriate relationship with a former Phoenix Mercury guard and ex-Suns color commentator Sophie Cunningham) to clear the way.

Ishbia hired the long-since retired assistant college coach who let Mat walk onto Michigan State to run Mat's NBA team, as NBA general manager, and nobody blinked. While Suns fans, deadened after decades of Colangelo-to-Colangelo nepotism, can't catch a blink.

Ishbia used to play college basketball – jock – he made millions in business and in America this makes someone a genius. In sportsdom, it qualifies him as a nerd. And if Mark Cuban can do it alongside nepobaby Donnie Nelson in Dallas, why can't Mat and Josh?

Kroenke used to play college basketball and his family married into billions, America's adaptation of divinity-based royalty, we sop that shit up. Josh will hire a general manager and yes, I hear you, owners are always in charge of basketball transactions, anyway, but not like this. We've never watched owners run NBA teams, not since owners could afford to hire people to run their NBA team.

If Josh Kroenke or (new Suns GM!) Brian Gregory or Josh Bartelstein were truly worthy of the titles they hold, other teams would be into them, after them, we'd hear about teams trying to hire away Josh Kroenke, but nobody is.

Josh Kroenke counts two decades of being the son of an NBA owner as "basketball experience," and this won't be the end of it. There are 30 NBA owners out there, most of them will have families with sons and daughters and, Lord help us all, sons-in-laws. These rich kids are your team's future No. 1 NBA personnel chief, not Scouty McSleuthsalot.

There has never been a greater divide between what consumers want to purchase, and the password-protected, AI-fed crap fiestas companies actually supply shelves with. This sort of division – I just want a normal one, why don't they make the normal ones anymore? – is already in the NBA. Nobody asked the Suns to trade for Bradley Beal, nobody wanted that product, but the Suns stamped it and celebrated it.

People who've never been forced to pause, let alone asked to pause, will not pause as preface to their ascension. Ishbia and Kroenke, in their minds, are doing things correctly. Blessing us with their mix of basketball and business brilliance, we should be thankful they are here to consolidate, streamline. It saves money for the thousands of dollars of hair color Mat shades his top with.

KENDRICK PERKINS

Very important defender for the Thunder, back in the day, before he fell off completely.

KP was not the reason the Thunder walked all over the done-by-then 2012 Los Angeles Lakers, who were swept out of the second round by the Dallas Mavericks the year before.

But he was a reason (Grizz swingman Sam Young was another one) why the Thunder beat the Grizzlies in 2011, and made the Finals in 2012.

IF I COULD OWN ANY TIMBERWOLVES JERSEY

Many options. Luc Longley. Terry Porter. James "Hollywood" Robinson. Al Jefferson. I'd wear a Sam Mitchell in a second.

Listen, you and I can listen names all night, but we both know I'm going for a LaPhonso Ellis.

IF I COULD OWN ANY THUNDER JERSEY

Kevin Durant. I'm not out to impress anyone. Maybe Kenrich Williams.

DAVID FALK

“I really like LeBron,” he said. “But I think if Jordan had cherry-picked what teams he wanted to be on and two other superstars, he would’ve won 15 championships.”

Absolutely untrue. Minimum double eight-peat. Minimum.

HAPPY FEELIN'S

Mat Ishbia technically made billions in business but he owes the American people millions in back taxes, so I wrote "millions."

Thanks for reading!