Heading into Game 3 of their Western Conference Finals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves looked helpless after falling down 0-2. Their first two losses came on the road by a combined 41 points to the NBA's best teams this season. Sounds familiar?
The Memphis Grizzlies faced that same fate against the same Thunder team in their first-round playoff series before heading home for Game 3 to get back into the series. The Grizzlies came out firing on all cylinders in Game 3, eventually leading by 29 points in the first half.
The Timberwolves took it a step further, leading by as many as 35 points against the Thunder in the first half of their Game 3. However, Minnesota pulled off what Memphis couldn't do to make it a series.
Minnesota finished the job
The Thunder have been nearly unbeatable this postseason after sweeping the Grizzlies in the first round, beating the Denver Nuggets in a seven-game series where the point differential was a total +64 in their favor, and handling the Timberwolves easily in their first two games.
However, Minnesota left nothing up to interpretation as they beat the Thunder by 42 points in Game 3 to pull within 2-1 of the series. That loss was the Thunder's worst loss this season, with the previous high being a 27-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in April.
The Memphis Grizzlies couldn't hold on to their 29-point lead after losing Ja Morant to injury while they were up 27 points late in the second quarter. The difference between Minnesota and Memphis resonated as seven players scored in double figures for the Timberwolves to finish off the Thunder handedly.
Ja Morant mentioned in his exit interview that he had the Thunder "figured out" and that the Grizzlies would've been headed back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 with the series tied 2-2 if he never left due to injury. While the Grizzlies and Morant dream about the what-ifs of that, the Timberwolves are living in their reality right now with a chance to tie the series in Game 4.
Minnesota's Game 3 performance showed that the Grizzlies still have another step to take when having a complete playoff performance. Their blunder in Game 3 of their series against Thunder, regardless of Morant's injury, was embarrassing at the time it occurred, and has been made worse after the Timberwolves left no room to spare in their Game 3 blowout victory over the Thunder.