The Western Conference Finals matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves will tip off today. Both teams are led by dynamic superstar guards in Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder seemingly have the advantage with Gilgeous-Alexander being the frontrunner for MVP. It will be a tough task, but 13-year NBA veteran Quentin Richardson believes he knows how the Timberwolves can slow down the Canadian star.
Advertisement
Oklahoma City recently prevailed in a grueling seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets despite coming up against the most adversity the team has faced since its core’s inception. The one consistent factor that led the Thunder to victory was the play of Gilgeous-Alexander.
In that series, he averaged 29.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists on 52.9% shooting from the field. His scoring totals led all players from both teams, and he stands atop the scoring column over all players remaining in the playoffs at 29.0 points per game through the first two rounds.
Minnesota will have an uphill battle in slowing SGA down. Richardson made a guest appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show and gave the Timberwolves a blueprint on how to halt Gilgeous-Alexander’s dominance.
“You got to send different looks at [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander],” Richardson said. Meaning, he continued, “You got to double-team, you got to send different coverages and do things to try to make him uncomfortable.”
Despite being just 26 years old, Gilgeous-Alexander has mastered the art of pace. He is one of the best in the league at not allowing a defender to either speed him up or slow him down. If the Timberwolves can find a way to make him uncomfortable, as Richardson suggests, it could have a huge trickle-down effect on the rest of the Thunder roster.
The Thunder definitely won’t allow the Timberwolves to play comfortably, especially while at home. OKC’s crowd has arguably been the rowdiest throughout the entire playoffs. Richardson cited the impact Oklahoma City’s crowd will have in this series.
“I don’t know if people are paying attention, but that’s the loudest building in the playoffs,” Richardson claimed. “I feel like that OKC crowd is the closest thing to a college crowd that we got in the league.”
The combination of Gilgeous-Alexander’s prowess and the Thunder’s crowd will be tough to overcome. Richardson believes the Thunder have the deeper team as well. “What SGA has in support, he has more depth, he has more guys that do more than [Anthony Edwards].”
These two teams faced each other on four occasions in the regular season. They split the series two games apiece. In those four matchups, Gilgeous-Alexander wreaked havoc on the Timberwolves’ defense. He averaged 35.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game.
If Gilgeous-Alexander’s regular-season performance against Minnesota is an indicator of what is to come, the Timberwolves are in for a long series.
