THUNDER WIRE Fighting for a board, Chet Holmgren grabbed the rebound but slowly lost his grip. As the seven-footer fell down on the court, the ball bounced out of bounds for an unforced turnover. It was that type of lethargic night for OKC before the All-Star break.

The Oklahoma City Thunder looked like they were on fumes in their 116-101 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was the first time all year that they failed to lead at any point of the game.

“Just got off to a poor start, and then did a nice job in the second quarter of getting ourselves back in the positionto give ourselves a chance and then cut into it in the third and really give ourselves a chance,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “But they just outplayed us for way too much tonight to come out of here with a win.”

It was another slow start for the Thunder. Those have been too common recently. While the Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein frontcourt will surely spell success, they’ll need time to integrate the former after a three-month absence. The Timberwolves opened with a 37-24 lead after the first quarter.

The second quarter saw the Thunder score points at an easier rate. Staggering Holmgren and Hartenstein, the spacing was better. It allowed OKC to tally 32 points in the frame. The downside of that approach was on the defensive side. Naz Reid dominated inside and was Minnesota’s best player. The Timberwolves kept their distance and entered halftime with a 64-56 lead.

Out of the break, the Thunder had a different energy. They started the second half on a 12-2 run to tie it at 68 points apiece. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander found Hartenstein on an alley-oop and the seven-footer returned the favor when he lasered a pass underneath the rim for the easy dunk to make it an even score.

This could’ve been the start of another signature avalanche run by OKC. Instead, Minnesota recovered and quickly retook the lead on the next possession as Nickeil Alexander- Walker hit a triple. It was the Timberwolves’ turn to go on a run with an 11-2 stretch that gave them a 79-70 advantage with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

The Thunder kept it from turning into a double- digit deficit until Minnesota got hot and went on a quick 11-3 run as Anthony Edwards drilled momentum-shifting 3-pointers. To show the type of game this was, Luka Garza cleaned up Rob Dillingham’s miss and scored on a second- chance layup to end the third quarter. OKC left the frame in a 97-87 deficit.

For the second straight game, the Thunder entered the fourth quarter in a 10-point hole. This time though, a historic 24-0 run couldn’t be replicated to bail out OKC for a poor first three frames. With both squads carrying dead legs, neither could generate offense in the final 12 minutes. Minnesota had a 19-14 scoring advantage as both teams collected plenty of misses that fell short.

The Thunder’s seven- game win streak was snapped. By the end of the contest, they looked ready for the week break. The offense fell off for OKC in the second half as fatigue settled in.

The Thunder shot 42% from the field and went 7-of-29 (24.1%) from 3. They went 20-of-24 at the free-throw line. They had 25 assists on 37 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points. Gilgeous-Alexander had an inefficient 24 points and nine assists. Jalen Williams finished with 20 points and five assists. Lu Dort scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Holmgren had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Hartenstein had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves shot 42% from the field and went 12-of-46 (26.1%) from 3. They went 20-of-22 at the free-throw line. They had 28 assists on 42 baskets. Five Timberwolves players scored double-digit points.

Reid led the way with 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Edwards was limited to 23 points on 5-of-18 shooting, eight rebounds and seven assists. Jaden McDaniels went off for 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting, six rebounds and five assists. Alexander-Walker had 14 points and Terrence Shannon Jr. had 13 points.

“Up this point, we’ve been doing a pretty good job with the team and where we stand right now,” Dort said. “Tonight was just a bad one. Bad execution, got a lot of shots we usually make. Credit to them, they played really hard. They threw the first punch from the beginning of the game.”

If this were simulated on NBA 2K, every Thunder starter would have the Gatorade logo underneath them. Thanks to poor NBA scheduling, OKC sprinted towards the finish line of the All-Star break with five games in seven nights. While defying several scheduled losses before this, they finally succumbed to one against the Timberwolves.

“It happens during the season, definitely want to go into the break feeling about ourselves, but this is a good opportunity to just learn from it and get better from it,” Kenrich Williams said. “Just finish the season out strong and not look too far ahead.”

The energy wasn’t there for the Thunder from the get-go. While they managed to tie it in the second half, Minnesota utilized the home crowd to go back up on the scoreboard and not look back the rest of the way. Alas, such is life in the NBA.

“We got a lot of basketball on the other side of it. A lot of opportunity to improve,” Daigneault said about the All-Star break. “Told the guys to fill their tanks and take their time. This is always a muchneeded break for everybody. We got to be a better team in every single opportunity, every single experience.”

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 24 points on 6-of-21 shooting, nine assists and eight rebounds. He shot 11-of-11 on free throws and went 1-of-2 from 3.

This was one of Gilgeous-Alexander ’s worst games inside the paint. He shot an ugly 3-of-14 in that range. The driveheavy scorer has had center-esque efficiency in that area but couldn’t get anything against the Timberwolves sans Rudy Gobert. Funny enough, they likely benefited from his absence as the MVP candidate usually cooks the DPOY winner on oneon-one matchups.

In his third game back, Holmgren finished with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. He shot 1-of-2 from 3 and went 4-of-6 on free throws. The best part of his box score was that he pushed 30 minutes for the first time since he returned. His other two games were at 22 and 25 minutes.

Besides drawing contact, Holmgren couldn’t get anything against the Timberwolves. He faded into the background and looked a step slow. While everybody was hyped about his first two games, the Thunder have tried to temper expectations of his return to performance. The unique injury will need some time to truly get over.