SGA Says Thunder 'Got Punched in the Mouth' By Anthony Edwards, Wolves in WCF G3 Loss

Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander thought his team "got punched in the mouth" in a 143-101 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals on Saturday.

The newly crowned MVP said setbacks like this are common, so there isn't a reason to dwell on the defeat for too long. The Thunder's response is what will be important.

The Timberwolves shot the lights out in Game 3. They hit 57.3 percent of their shots and went 20-of-40 from beyond the arc. Minnesota also collected 19 more rebounds and had 14 more points in the paint.

Performances don't get more comprehensive than this.

Wolves star Anthony Edwards set the tone. He dropped 16 points in the first quarter, more than OKC had as a team, and nearly finished a double-double (30 points, nine rebounds and six assists).

For Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates, there's little reason to panic just yet. The Thunder still have home-court advantage in the series, and they're up 2-1 in the series.

Saturday might've just been one of those nights. SGA went 4-of-13 from the field, which is tied for his fourth-worst shooting clip this season. He's not going to shoot this poorly in every game moving forward, and Minnesota probably won't knock down 20 threes in every contest, either.

If the Thunder take Game 4 in Minneapolis on Monday, then that could pretty much be all she wrote. It's difficult to envision the Timberwolves reeling off three straight wins over the West's No. 1 seed.

That's why Oklahoma City is still in the driver's seat despite the lopsided Game 3 score.