Minnesota entered the Western Conference Finals last spring with an air of confidence.

The Timberwolves had fallen short at this same stage a year prior, but that was part of the process. Now they were back, lessons learned, and ready to take the next step to reach the franchise’s first NBA Finals.

Five games later, they were sent home by the Oklahoma City Thunder in embarrassing fashion. The Wolves dropped three games in OKC by 15, 26 and 30 points.

“They kicked our (butts),” Anthony Edwards said this week.

It was the first time an Edwards-led Wolves team had been so thoroughly dismantled over the course of a playoff series.

Minnesota’s star guard spent the immediate aftermath of his team’s elimination admiring Oklahoma City’s defensive connectivity. Wolves coach Chris Finch noted th

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