The OKC Thunder welcomed the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Paycom Center but didn’t anticipate the Wolves pulling off a historic comeback win to secure a 131-128 win in OT. OKC led by 16 points with less than four minutes left but the Wolves rallied to force OT and then seal the win despite being short-handed.
The Timberwolves were led by Jaden McDaniels, who put up 27 points (9-16 FG) and 10 rebounds. Naz Reid had 22 points (7-21 FG) and 11 rebounds while Anthony Edwards put up 17 points (5-15 FG), 13 rebounds, and eight assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 21 points (7-12 FG) while Terrence Shannon Jr. had 17 points (7-10 FG) and 10 rebounds in a breakout rookie performance.
OKC saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up a valiant 39 points (11-20 FG). 10 rebounds, and eight assists while Jalen Williams contributed 27 points (10-23 FG), six rebounds, and six assists. Aaron Wiggins had 19 points (8-16 FG) and seven rebounds, as OKC struggled to get much production from other players across the roster with Chet Holmgren sitting this game out.
Let’s take a look at what enabled the Timberwolves to edge this win in their favor.
The Wolves Held On
The Timberwolves fought extremely hard to seal this win despite being without crucial contributors such as Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle on the court. The team didn’t shoot that great, going 44-97 (45.5 FG%) from the field and a disappointing 9-32 (28.1 3P%) from three. However, the aggressive play from all rotational members and prioritizing two-point creation managed to work perfectly.
The Thunder were without a major interior force like Chet Holmgren, which allowed the Wolves to create 62 points in the paint and generate 39 free throws, of which they converted 34. That’s 96 points based around an offense attacking another team in the interior, which allowed for a greater baseline of success instead of chucking up threes until they started falling.
Minnesota outscored the OKC Thunder 51-26 in the fourth quarter and OT, comprehensively shutting them down while making big inroads using their own offensive stability. It was one of the best coaching performances of the season as Chris Finch got his team to hold on for this crucial win.
Shai Is Still Performing At An MVP Level
When contending teams lose games in such a fashion, a lot of blame is instantly placed on the team’s superstar. However, it’s hard to look at OKC and blame Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for this result. He did his best with 39 points (11-20 FG). 10 rebounds, and eight assists in the game, but he needed more supplemental help around him as Minnesota got from the non-Anthony Edwards contributors.
Shai is averaging 32.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.2 assists this season, so he overperformed on his already incredible numbers this season and still fell to a narrow loss. This is unfortunate but not something he can control, as the rest of the Thunder outside co-star Jalen Williams and forward Aaron Wiggins didn’t carry their own weight in this game.
Outside those three players, the rest of OKC’s rotation combined for just 43 points, which wasn’t enough in an OT game that came down to the wire. Their defensive collapse was also a major issue, as Minnesota seemingly exploited every defensive hole they could. Isaiah Hartenstein couldn’t hold his own tonight either and it led to a shocking loss.
OKC’s Team-Wide Production Is Questionable
Everyone knows that OKC is among the few genuine contenders in the NBA and will likely secure the No. 1 seed in the West. They’re being given a lot of credit for having a well-built roster that can be menacing defensively, but they’re a little too star-reliant when it comes to production on offense in particular. Shai has been carrying their offense and J-Dub is a worthy co-star, but there are offensive issues when you look beyond those stars, especially with Holmgren suffering multiple injuries.
The team went 45-106 (42.5 FG%) from the field on the night while shooting 15-49 (30.6 3P%) from three. Their offense was completely ground to a halt by Minnesota in the fourth quarter, with no creative point guard being able to manufacture good looks for the roster.
Out of the OKC’s 45 made buckets, Shai-JDub-Wiggins provided 29 of them as everyone else struggled. Unless the franchise can find a way to maximize the role-players through on-ball playmaking or just having more consistent offensive players around the stars, they could fall to another Playoff loss like they did last season while being the No. 1 seed.
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