In the midst of technical fouls, referee stoppages and high-octane offense, the Oklahoma City Thunder were able to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 135-128, in a game whose length rivals the weekly SEC football game on CBS.
Defense was optional for both teams in this game as a huge scoring third quarter for both squads put them near the 100-point territory with a full quarter to go.
By the end of the third quarter, the score resembled the final score for some games at a 101-97 Timberwolves lead.
For the Thunder, they scored efficiently in a variety of ways. The Thunder shot 48-of-93 (51.6 percent) from the field and went 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from outside. They were also frequent visitors to the charity stripe as they went 28-of-35 (80 percent) from the line.
A big reason why the Thunder took so many trips is because of the absurd five technical fouls handed to the Timberwolves. The normally-quiet Thunder also received three technical fouls of their own.
Tempers flared up after Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert intentionally tripped Thunder veteran Kenrich Williams in the second quarter. Williams, who is usually reserved, was rightfully upset at the cheap shot by Gobert and both needed to be separated.
In the end, Gobert received a flagrant two and was ejected while Williams received his second T of the season.
Despite the absence of Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves offense had no trouble putting up points. The Timberwolves shot 47-of-89 (52.8 percent) from the field and 24-of-30 (80 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Timberwolves were led by their starting backcourt duo. Anthony Edwards scored 26 points and D’Angelo Russell scored 27 points. Off the bench, Jaylen Nowell scored 21 points and Naz Reid scored 13 points.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades from this seven-point win.