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The Oklahoma City Thunder are just one win away from going to the NBA Finals after taking down the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday night. The Thunder dominated the first two games of the series at home, but Minnesota had quite the answer in Game 3. The Timberwolves won by 42 points over the weekend to get within a game, but Oklahoma City came ready to play in Game 4.
A Timberwolves win on Monday night would've made this a brand new series, and they were close to pulling it off as the game came down to the final possessions. The Thunder ended up winning by two points, and they are now back in complete control.
“Tonight was just a brawl from the jump,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said after the game, according to an article from The Athletic. “I thought we did a good job of leveling up. I thought Minnesota played with the same level of physicality that they played with on Saturday night. The difference is that we rose up tonight and we matched that physicality. Their role players deserve a lot of credit. Their shotmaking was ridiculous. We had to withstand a lot of runs. So for us to do that and overcome it on the road was a great team win.”
The Timberwolves were right there in this game until the end, but the Thunder never let them pull ahead down the stretch. That isn't easy to do in hostile road environment.
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“I thought we did a good job of continuously moving the scoreboard,” Daigneault said. “We especially did that late in the game, when there were situations down the stretch where it was a possession game. I thought the guys did a great job, taking it a possession at a time.”
Another big reason why the Thunder got the win is their star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. SGA finished with 40 points and led the team to victory.
“For me? I wanted to get lost in the competition,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That’s what I think worked for me tonight. I think collectively, we all did a good job of staying in the moment. We all had a bad taste in our mouth from last game. So I think we all did a good job of controlling what we were able to control. We could have been a bit better for sure. It definitely wasn’t perfect. But we did a good job of giving ourselves a chance to get a win.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will look to put the series away on Thursday night back at home. The two teams will tip at 7:30 CT from the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The game will be airing on ESPN, and OKC is currently favored by 8.5 points.
