Frederick: The Timberwolves know how to respond. They’ve seen it firsthand.

After a Match drubbing in which they were out-physicaled and thoroughly out-played in a loss that put them behind - in the series players couldn t help but hint at selected frustration toward the other band s defensive aggression They re hacking No those exact words weren t spoken by any Timberwolves athlete or coach Chris Finch following Minnesota s loss to Oklahoma City on Thursday That was Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon in the aftermath of Minnesota s - supremacy in Challenge of the Western Conference semifinals It was a night in which the Nuggets became consumed by their frustration with the officiating and what they felt the Wolves defense was getting away with Then Denver coach Michael Malone went nose to nose in a yelling match with referee Marc Davis Jamal Murray threw a heat pack onto the court The Nuggets came unglued Murray left the locker room without speaking to reporters that evening much like Anthony Edwards did Thursday in Oklahoma City Suddenly the defending champs were heading to Minneapolis with the possibility of getting swept out of the playoffs squarely in play Frankly that was the assumed development at that point The Nuggets were getting punked It was a realization Gordon seemed to strike by the end of his post-Game comments I feel like we re getting pushed off our spots they were grabbing and holding and we were looking for the executives he reported We weren t doing anything about it Rather than praying for a life preserver from the referees Denver decided to fight back The Nuggets upped their physicality to match and even exceed Minnesota s Denver committed fouls in a Contest trouncing of the Timberwolves as they bogged down Minnesota s offense with its tenacity at Target Center The Nuggets won three straight games to take a series lead before eventually running out of gas and falling to the Wolves in seven games But at least the champs went out on their swords Minnesota finds itself on the other side of the coin versus the position it was in a year ago The Wolves are now down - after consecutive blowout losses at the hands of Oklahoma City They re the ones who feel as though their opponent is getting too loose of a defensive whistle I mean they re just handsy man Wolves forward Julius Randle revealed Thursday There s a lot of swipes all that different type of stuff They re very handsy and there s a lot of things that are not going to get called Wolves center Rudy Gobert reported between Games and They are relentless We knew that We know that they re grabbing fouling but we know that we re not going to get all those calls Waiting for the whistles isn t a winning strategy Oklahoma City has been the aggressor through two games If that doesn t change in the Twin Cities these West Finals will be over sooner than later For the better part of the past two seasons Minnesota has been the big fast strong unit that wears opponents down with its physicality and tenacity But through two games the Wolves have met their match in Oklahoma City And rather than the matchup producing a high-stakes showdown of two teams out for blood the Wolves have too frequently cowered into the corner They would likely maintain that they haven t been allowed to play a physical brand of defense because of the whistle afforded to newly-crowned MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander But the reality is those at times questionable foul calls aren t coming on plays where Minnesota is out harassing the Thunder s star guard on the perimeter Because that scenario has not played out Gilgeous-Alexander is getting where he wants to go on the floor and bringing the contact to Minnesota s defenders As is often the circumstance in basketball to the aggressor goes the call Throughout his tenure Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has frequently mentioned the need for his crew to maintain a hit-first mentality on the court In this series it s looked more like Get hit and this instant look at the official That s a great formula if your goal is to go on vacation That s purely not who Minnesota has been for the past meager years It s why it s hard to imagine the Wolves going out this tamely But that s what will happen if change isn t made ahead of Saturday s Challenge at Target Center They need to be the ones setting the tone They need to be physical to deliver the hits to dictate the terms of the match They need to be themselves Or more apt to this situation they need to be last year s Nuggets They have two options Show chosen championship-caliber fight or pitfall finding themselves watching the Thunder hoist a trophy on the Target Center floor much like they did with Dallas in this very round last season It will be a huge disappointment Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker noted if we don t bring that competitiveness to try to win Related Articles Timberwolves blitzed again in third quarter to fall down - in West Finals Jace Frederick Will Anthony Edwards pull back if NBA fines continue Now the Timberwolves understand the challenge that is the Thunder The Timberwolves attempted -pointers in Challenge Can they win that way Oklahoma City takes it to Timberwolves for Challenge win