OKLAHOMA CITY — While dribbling, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander penetrated the paint and sent Rudy Gobert, the defensive player of the year favorite, flying on a pump fake for an easy underhand layup.
It was that type of night for the Oklahoma City Thunder in their 129-106 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The statement win saw OKC shoot 61% from the field against the best defensive-rated team in the league.
“I thought tonight we were able to kinda dictate the pace of the game,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “Our intensity, our activity defensively is what allowed us to do that and allowed us to play that way.”
Playing small and with speed, the Thunder forced the large Timberwolves to play an uncomfortable brand of basketball that led to their demise. Minnesota’s stout defense bled points as OKC scored with ease.
OKC scored a season-high 40 points in the first quarter. The Thunder entered halftime with a 66-60 lead. A 36-point third quarter helped them enter the final frame with an 11-point lead. Then they limited the Timberwolves to 15 fourth-quarter points.
The Thunder shot 61% from the field and went 18-of-39 (46.2%) from 3. OKC dished a season-high 35 assists on its 49 made baskets. Against the Timberwolves’ top paint defense, OKC outscored them, 58-44, in that area.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 34 points and nine assists. He was accompanied by three 20-point scorers: Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Lu Dort.
“Just the way we moved the ball,” Dort said on their offensive outing. “We know they’re a pretty good defensive team. … Our main thing was just to move the ball and to find the best shot we could find and so we did.”
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves shot 47% from the field and went 12-of-27 (44.4%) from 3. A busy night from the free-throw line kept Minnesota in it as it shot 26-of-32 in that area.
The Timberwolves turned it over 24 times, which led to 23 points off turnovers for the Thunder. The poor ball security helped OKC attempt eight more shots than Minnesota.
Minnesota was led by Anthony Edwards, who scored 25 points on 7-of-16 shooting and went 9-of-13 from the free-throw line.
The frontcourt duo of Karl-Anthony Towns, who was a game-time decision, and Gobert were held in check. Towns had 16 points and six rebounds; Gobert had 10 points and five rebounds.
It was an impressive defensive performance by OKC, who credited sound communication for limiting Minnesota to its lowest point total in over a month.
“I thought we had great intensity of that end after the first quarter,” Daigneault said on their defense. “I thought both teams were outscoring each other in the first period of the game. As the game wore on, we really tightened on that end of the floor.”
In a matchup between teams with two of the top-three records in the Western Conference standings, the Thunder were thoroughly the better team and handed the first-placed Timberwolves a lopsided defeat.
OKC elected to zig while Minnesota zagged with its large starting lineup. The move paid dividends as the Thunder’s small-ball ran the Timberwolves off the court.
“With a team that big, you have to play fast,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You have to move the ball. You have to make them work. There’s upsides and downsides, but we used the upsides to our advantage for sure tonight.”
This was a great way to kick off a home back-to-back and the beginning of a brutal stretch of busy basketball for the next month-plus. These types of wins strengthen OKC’s resume as a contender.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.