Following the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, many began to doubt whether the Minnesota Timberwolves could advance to the 2025 NBA Finals. Despite being down 2-0 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, that didn’t lower their morale. They bounced back with an emphatic Game 3 victory, winning by 42 points. In the process, Anthony Edwards sent a message to NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith, which has sparked a sense of faith in the Timberwolves.
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Entering this series, the expectation was that these teams would be in a dogfight. The Thunder and Timberwolves played outstanding basketball en route to the WCF. Smith had high hopes that those would be a long and competitive series, possibly reaching seven games.
Oklahoma City quickly made him rethink his assessment. Minnesota seemed outclassed in the first two games, losing by at least 15 points in both contests. The Timberwolves didn’t show Smith anything that made him confident that they could come back in this series.
Ahead of Game 3, Smith was in Minnesota as a member of ESPN’s broadcast of the game. He made a bold prediction while standing on the Timberwolves’ court, stating, “They’re about to get swept. They might lose this game,” Smith proclaimed.
Of course, that was far from what transpired. Minnesota kept its season alive with a dominant 143-101 victory. Subsequently, after the game, Edwards bumped into Smith and made his feelings known regarding the analysts’ comments.
“I go into the locker room afterwards, [Anthony Edwards] stopped talking to me, media just walking up to me,” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take. “He’s like, ‘Come on now. I heard you, come on now, Steve.'”
Smith knew exactly what Edwards was referring to. He didn’t let his pride consume him and revealed that he apologized for doubting the 23-year-old superstar. More impressively, how the Timberwolves defeated the Thunder led him back to his original claim.
“[The Timberwolves] could win this series,” Smith said. “They could come back, and they could force a game seven.”
The reason for Timberwolves’ turnaround
One of the main factors of Smith’s change of heart is the performance of Julius Randle. In Game 2, he didn’t play in the fourth quarter due to how poorly he performed. The switch flipped in Game 3, as he dominated with 24 points and four rebounds.
Stephen A implored the Timberwolves to replicate their play on or else their window of opportunity will disappear as quickly as it returned. “If that team shows up they win tonight. They win tonight, it’s going seven, but if they lose tonight it’s over Wednesday night.”
However, the Timberwolves still fell behind 3-1 in the series after Monday night’s Game 4, as Thunder won 128-126 in a close encounter.
