The Minnesota Timberwolves entered the Western Conference Finals looking like a team on the verge of something special. But Tuesday night told a different story. The Oklahoma City Thunder came out swinging—with more energy, more urgency, and a whole lot more firepower. The result? A brutal 114-88 beatdown that wasn’t just a loss—it was a wake-up call.

Anthony Edwards, who’s basically been the human highlight reel of these playoffs, finished with a quiet 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting. That’s seven fewer shots from his average these playoffs. After the game, when asked about OKC’s pesky defense, Ant didn’t blame his tweaked ankle (which caused a second-quarter scare), nor did he throw his teammates under the bus. He just kept it real.

“I only took 13 f—— shots,” Edwards said, before adding that OKC’s defense was living in the gaps, forcing him to give the ball up. “I gotta play without the ball more.”

He did not want to talk about his ankle either. When asked about only taking one shot in the paint, Ant brushed off the idea that it was injury-related seconds after confirming his ankle is not an issue. According to him, it was all OKC’s defense: “Yeah, they definitely took that part of my game away tonight… good job to those guys.” Respect. But also… yikes.

OKC’s Defense Made Ant Look More Like Rookie Year Wiggins

To be fair to Edwards, the Thunder brought the clamps. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points, but he needed 27 shots to get there, and Jaden McDaniels had him in a straitjacket in the first half. The real damage came later when Kenrich Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams started making their shots.

OKC outscored Minnesota 32-18 in the third quarter, turned a halftime deficit into a double-digit lead, and never looked back. Minnesota’s offense? The Wolves shot a subpar—15-for-51 from three. That’s 29.4%. Naz Reid was 1-for-11. Donte DiVincenzo might’ve needed Google Maps to find the rim, going 3-of-14. Even Julius Randle, who had 20 points by halftime, turned into 2023 playoffs Julius in the second half, adding only 8 more points.

Anthony Edwards did miss the start of the second quarter, which had fans nervously googling “how to tape an ankle like Kobe.” But he returned and played 37 minutes, so while the ankle might be barking, it’s clearly not broken. Still, Minnesota fans couldn’t help but notice the lack of explosion. One shot in the paint from a guy who usually treats the restricted area like his personal Airbnb? Not normal.

Julius Randle led the Wolves with 28 points, but he faded in the second half faster than the Timberwolves’ lead. And outside of him, the rest of the roster looked like they were playing in a summer league at your local rec center.

Let’s not sugarcoat it: if Minnesota doesn’t adjust, this series could end faster than a James Harden honeymoon period. OKC’s defense made the Wolves uncomfortable, doubled Ant like he was prime Kobe, and shut down the paint like Rudy Gobert used to do. And speaking of Rudy… 2 points, 3 rebounds in 21 minutes? Nothing close to what he’s been these playoffs.

Game 2 tips off Thursday night at Paycom Center. Anthony Edwards has made it clear—he needs more touches, less ball-handling, and more off-ball movement. If Chris Finch doesn’t make those adjustments, he might want to borrow Thibodeau’s “minutes calculator” and hope for a miracle.

Because right now, it’s Thunderstruck 1, Timberwolves 0.