Rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. comes off bench to outscore Oklahoma City starters in Wolves’ blowout win

The last time Timberwolves rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. played big minutes in a postseason game on the Target Center court, he was dropping 34 points to lead Illinois to a Big Ten tournament title over Wisconsin in March 2024.

He was the go-to guy, sitting on the bench for only four minutes.

In Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City on Saturday night, Shannon was given just four first-half minutes to dig up some of that same magic.

Down 2-0 in the playoff series but up 20 early in the second quarter, Wolves coach Chris Finch dipped deeper into his bench, to ninth man Shannon. The rookie guard had played just a collective five minutes in the second-round series against Golden State.

Shannon didn’t need much more than that to outscore each of the Thunder starters in the Wolves’ 143-101 blowout victory.

“I got drafted to a good team. I knew I was going to have to work my butt off to get in the rotation, or even to get minutes,” Shannon said. “When my time comes, it comes.”

Early in the second quarter, with Anthony Edwards and the Thunder’s NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, subbed out, Shannon earned a quick and-1 on a floater. He then made a pull-up jumper and a layup, plus hit two free throws, to rack up nine points in four minutes and extend the Wolves’ lead to 46-20.

Shannon also had two rebounds, an assist and a steal.

“I’ve been wrestling with getting another guy in the rotation,” Finch said. “A guy that could stretch the floor in transition, be a downhill player, got a good body, physicality. ... We kind of knew coming into the game that we were going to get to him.

“You’re definitely going to see him more.”

The Target Center crowd gave Shannon a standing ovation when he subbed out with 7:50 left in first half.

“When you got a younger guy who’s in the same position you were, just watching him stay ready, then put on big performances ... in a big, big, big moment, it’s fun to see,” said Naz Reid, last season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year. “You kind of get the chills.”

Shannon averaged 4.3 points in 10.6 minutes per game during the regular season but had scored only six points in six previous games this postseason.

Drafted in the first round with pick No. 27, the 24-year-old Shannon is older than Wolves starters Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, both drafted in 2020. Edwards, whose trainer, Chris Hines, also works with Shannon, has described the rookie as a “worker, like I am.”

“I just feed off their energy, or if the energy is low, I bring it,” Shannon said. “The way I play, the defense has to adjust to me, because I’m going so far down, going so fast and fearless downhill.”

Added to the Wolves roster alongside No. 8 pick Rob Dillingham, Shannon earned Most Outstanding Player honors for the 2024 Big Ten tournament. After averaging 20.2 points per game in two seasons at Illinois, Shannon’s jersey was retired in February — though his banner went viral after it was accidentally hung upside down from the rafters.

The nod to Shannon off the bench was a welcome change for a Wolves team that shot poorly in two road losses to start the series, 114-88 in Game 1 and 118-103 in Game 2.

With the Wolves’ leading by as many as 45 points in the second half, 14 of the 15 players on the active roster got to help hand Oklahoma City its largest loss of the season. The Target Center crowd was eventually left chanting for the last holdout, NBA veteran Joe Ingles, with three minutes left in the fourth quarter.