The Minnesota Timberwolves executed an effortless 116-101 win over the league-leading OKC Thunder at the Target Center in Minnesota tonight. The Timberwolves were short-handed without multiple rotational players including Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and more.
Naz Reid had a breakout performance as a starter, putting up 27 points (11-18 FG), 13 rebounds, and seven assists in one of his best performances of the season. Anthony Edwards had 23 points (5-18 FG), eight rebounds, and seven assists while Jaden McDaniels chipped in 21 points (9-18 FG) and six rebounds. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 14 points (5-11 FG) and six rebounds while rookie Terrance Shannon Jr. had 13 points (4-10 FG) and six rebounds.
The Thunder were led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 24 points (6-21 FG), eight rebounds, and nine assists. Both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein notched double-doubles, with Chet having 11 points (3-7 FG) and 12 rebounds while Hartenstein matched the rebound total with 10 points of his own (5-6 FG). Jalen Williams had 20 points (8-17 FG) and Lu Dort had 14 points (6-10 FG).
Let’s take a deeper look at this game and analyze the major takeaways.
Thunder Aren’t Invincible
The OKC Thunder have been a near-perfect symphony of offense and defense this season. Teams regularly struggle to score on them while they can dominate almost any opponent. This is mainly because of MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s two-way talents, but the Thunder have arguably the most well-rounded roster in the NBA alongside the Boston Celtics.
Even with their starting five healthy, they couldn’t beat the Timberwolves on the margins. OKC were slightly out-rebounded 49 to 54, but they were dominated on the offensive glass with Minnesota grabbing 20 compared to their 12, creating 23 second-chance points compared to OKC’s 11.
The shooting percentages were even for both teams who had relatively cold nights. OKC shot 37-88 (42.0 FG%) from the field and 7-29 from three (24.1 3P%) compared to Minnesota’s 42-99 FG (42.4 FG%) and 12-46 from three (26.1 3P%).Â
The Thunder had the talent against a short-handed Timberwolves squad but couldn’t create enough momentum to challenge their lead all game. A wire-to-wire loss as the league leaders is not the best way to go into the All-Star break.
Timberwolves’ Resurgence
The Minnesota Timberwolves have been a Play-In team this entire season. They had a slow start and hovered around .500 for the first four months of the season but are currently in inspired form heading into the break. They’re 31-25 this season and half a game behind the No. 6 seeded Los Angeles Clippers. They are legitimate contenders for a top-six seed in the West, provided they can continue their run of form, going 10-4 in their last 14 games.
Tonight’s win isn’t representative of what they’ve done on the court but it shows a general focus that the Timberwolves are now playing with. The team is defending aggressively while trying to work through offensive struggles, looking similar to the version we saw last season go to the Conference Finals.
The Wolves didn’t win tonight by outshooting OKC, they did it by creating 10 more opportunities, maximizing those, and never letting OKC find their way into the game. It was a gritty win against a gritty team and the kind that coaches can take a lot of pride in executing.
OKC Might Regret Not Improving Their Roster
The Thunder believe in the roster they’ve created through careful drafting and talent identification over the last few seasons. The only recent additions to the roster who aren’t homegrown are Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso, with Caruso spending most of the season injured. The Thunder have the best record in the NBA while also being the most asset-rich franchise, controlling between 9 and 15 first-round picks in the next seven years.
The team continuously chooses not to trade its assets for marginal roster improvements, which could help it improve its chances of winning. In fact, the team actually accepted cap dumps with second-round picks as a reward at the trade deadline, something that rebuilding teams usually do.Â
They could’ve easily reinforced their roster with veteran players like Cam Johnson if they wanted to, but chose to stand pat. That’s fair, considering they were already the best team in the NBA, but they could have made themselves even stronger for a negligible cost due to how many future assets they have.
Nights like tonight show how another offensive element on the roster can really boost a franchise. The Thunder chose not to add one, and this might cause them trouble in the Playoffs.
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