OKLAHOMA CITY — With two minutes left in a tight contest, Anthony Edwards blew past Jalen Williams and soared for the one-handed jam to serve as the exclamation mark.
The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t secure a critical game as they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 107-101. The season series ends at two apiece.
“Both teams played really hard,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the loss. “I thought the way we defended, rebounded, competed on the glass, really gave us a great chance throughout the game. Even when we went through some offensive droughts…
“Credit them, I thought they outplayed us in the fourth. Made some timely plays. But we weren’t short on effort or energy tonight.”
The matchup between the top two teams in the Western Conference standings lived up to the hype as the close, back-and-forth contest resembled a playoff atmosphere with 24 lead changes and six ties.
“Those are the games you want to be a part of,” Aaron Wiggins said. “Atmosphere was great, crowd was loud. You could feel that there’s a competitive nature on the court.”
The Timberwolves held a 29-28 lead following the first quarter. A 20-19 second-quarter advantage by Minnesota saw it enter halftime holding a 49-47 lead.
Out of the break, the Thunder’s 30-point third quarter helped overcome their deficit and entered the final frame holding a 77-73 lead. Five quick points by Minnesota to start the fourth quarter suddenly saw OKC trailing.
Both teams exchanged baskets the rest of the way before the Timberwolves started to create distance on the scoreboard with an 11-2 run during the final two-and-a-half minutes. In the end, the Thunder were outscored, 34-24, in the final frame as they couldn’t close out the pivotal home contest.
The Thunder shot 44% from the field and went 14-of-35 (40%) from 3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 37 points and eight assists while Williams had 20 points.
Outside of those two though, the rest of the Thunder starters struggled with a combined 19 points on 27% shooting. OKC was outscored by Minnesota inside of the paint, 46-34.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves shot 48% from the field and went 14-of-29 (48.3%) from 3. Six players scored double-digit points — including all five of their starters.
Edwards led the way with 27 points, four assists and four rebounds. Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 18 rebounds.
“I thought top to bottom, they really competed,” Daigneault said on the Timberwolves. “I thought they did a good job at changing defenses in the first half and keeping us off balance.
“I thought they competed on that end of the floor and I thought we did too. It was two really competitive teams competing hard in the game and they obviously made a few more plays than we did.”
Kenrich Williams added: “It was a very intense game, a very physical game. They’re a great team, very good team in this league. You got to tip your hat to them.”
It appears January’s busy schedule might be catching up to the Thunder. They’ve dropped both games of this back-to-back and the depreciation is starting to add up for OKC despite its youth.
“It’s hard just getting adjusted to,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on OKC’s grueling schedule. “Now, with that being said, the NBA doesn’t care. Your opponents don’t care. Nobody cares. You’ve got to fight through it and get it done.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.