“If we take care of the ball, we win that game,” Gary Payton II said after the Warriors’ 106-96 loss to the Houston Rockets back in early April. He wasn’t wrong — turnovers haunted Golden State throughout their season. While it’s no longer their problem — after being eliminated in the Conference Semis — the turnover bug is now plaguing the very team that sent them packing.

Out of all four teams competing for a spot in the 2025 NBA championship, the Timberwolves are the team with the most turnovers recorded in this postseason. While Edwards’ brilliance helped them with a massive win in Game 3, the Thunder leveraged Minnesota’s turnovers the most in Game 4.

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin recently reported on the intense 1st quarter of Game 4 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. A major back-and-forth between the 2 teams still resulted in OKC leading by 37-30, aka a 7-point margin. The major reason behind this was the fact that Anthony Edwards and co had recorded 7 turnovers by the end of the quarter, while OKC only had 3. At the end of the game, the Timberwolves had committed 21 turnovers. Too much to overcome against a team like Oklahoma.

A fan account named ‘warriorsworld’ also noted this, and wrote “Wolves turnover problems are very GSW like”. Well, knowing how things ended for the Warriors, the Timberwolves should be more careful about taking care of the ball.

It is not as if the Warriors squad did not realize that they had a turnover problem, and did not choose to work on it. The team got a big jolt back in November 2024 itself, when they suffered their second loss of the season. The fact that they allowed 17 turnovers to give the Cleveland Cavaliers an extra special edge was unacceptable. Even Steve Kerr noted this by saying, “We’ve gotta respond. We’ve got to execute better”, and “We were completely disorganized. And that’s where I feel like we need the most work”. Despite that, the issue continued on. Not fixing it soon allowed the Minnesota Timberwolves to take advantage, and eliminate Jimmy Butler and co in a 5-game series. Now, as Michael Scott would say, ‘How the turntables’.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have made one thing clear this postseason: when they manage their turnovers, they thrive—but when they don’t, the results can be disastrous. In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, their 17 turnovers, compared to OKC’s 12, played a major role in the lopsided 114-88 defeat. Game 2 followed a similar script. Despite a strong performance from Anthony Edwards, who scored over 30 points, Minnesota’s 14 turnovers once again overshadowed their offensive efforts. Meanwhile, the Thunder kept their mistakes to a minimum with just six giveaways, tipping the scales in their favor.

However, in Game 3, Anthony Edwards and co were able to use things to their advantage. They threw different looks at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, containing the MVP and holding him to a season low 14 points on 4-13 shooting, while also forcing 4 turnovers. They tightened their defense, too, thereby allowing only 10 turnovers as opposed to OKC’s 14. Unfortunately, judging from the recent game, their feat seems to have been only a 1-game thing.

One could have sympathized with the Minnesota Timberwolves if the squad hadn’t realized how to get over this issue. However, they do, as Chris Finch himself revealed only a few days ago.

Chris Finch highlighted Anthony Edwards and co.’s fast pace as a counter-measure for turnovers

Before Game 4, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ head coach participated in a media availability session. During the same time, a reporter highlighted noticing a coincidence. Whenever Anthony Edwards and co played with a faster pace, their turnovers were less. Chris Finch agreed with this observation, and said that “The faster we play, the quicker our decision making is. The quicker our decision-making is, the better we are.”

Typically, playing at a faster pace limits a team’s ability to slow down and make calculated decisions. But against OKC, conventional wisdom might need to be tossed aside. At this point, anything that disrupts their rhythm is worth trying. After all, the Thunder are averaging 24.3 points off turnovers per game in these playoffs—nearly seven more than any other team.

Anthony Edwards and co have already had enough experience with fast-paced teams in the regular season. A loss against the Indiana Pacers back in March even taught Donte DiVincenzo a lesson, as he said, “They like to play fast one way. When there are opportunities to run back at them, take those opportunities, and at the same time, when you get the lead, pick apart the defense. A team like that that is just pushing in transition, we’re losing our focus, we have to get back to load up and be ready.”

Speed is the name of the game—and if the Timberwolves can find it in the games ahead, they just might rewrite franchise history by becoming the first squad to ever reach the NBA Finals.

Do you believe that Anthony Edwards and co can resolve this turnover issue before OKC gets the better of them? Let us know in the comments section down below.