For what feels like the first time all season, the OKC Thunder found themselves on the wrong side of a historic feat Monday evening as the Minnesota Timberwolves stormed back from a 24-point fourth-quarter deficit to pull out a hard-fought 131-128 win.
This final outcome now ranks as the fourth-largest comeback in the final period during the play-by-play era of the NBA.
During the hours directly following this epic late-game collapse, Oklahoma City has been on the receiving end of quite a bit of backlash.
From T-Wolves coach Chris Finch lambasting the club for their propensity to foul to many analysts and basketball experts voicing concerns over their readiness to contend for a championship this season, more than ever before it seems that the Thunder are beginning to draw serious criticisms for their on-court production.
However, through all the noise and negativity, one prominent analyst is viewing the Thunder's historic loss in a different and more positive light.
Tim Legler believes loss to Wolves could be a wakeup call for Thunder
Though acknowledging that the loss was an "epic failure" and should be viewed as "inexcusable," during an appearance on Tuesday's edition of ESPN's First Take, Tim Legler made a surprise shift in his assessment of the contest, as he went as far as to say that the loss may be the "best thing to happen to Oklahoma City."
"They gave up 14 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter and they gave up eight more in overtime. 22 free throws in the last 17 minutes of the game. A lot of those were just silly, careless fouls where you're allowing Minnesota to score... I thought Oklahoma City defensively, that was probably one of the worst stretches of the year... It's inexcusable the way that they closed that game... They took their foot off the gas a little bit, they got sloppy defensively with all the fouling... They're going to say 'This is a lesson, man.' You can't let this happen to yourself at home," Legler said.
While many may view Oklahoma City's elite 725 point differential and conference-leading record of 46-11 as a luxury, ironically, there's a case to be made that having such a gap between them and their opponents during the regular season could have some negitive effects down the stretch, especially in the high pressure evironments that the NBA playoffs provide.
How a team navigates through and deals with adversity is often seen as a litmus test for championship viability.
For a team like Oklahoma City that has lost just 11 games in 2024-25 -- less than half of which were by more than two possessions --, the arguable downside of their success is that they don't necessarily have all that much experience dealing with such hardships.
Legler seems to be suggesting that this loss to the Timberwolves could be something of a wakeup call for the Thunder, one that encourages them to stay on their toes and remain focused on putting their best foot forward on any given night and in any given moment of a game.
Hopefully they heed his advice.