In a battle of two Western Conference heavyweights, the Minnesota Timberwolves took on the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center. With both teams boasting 32-14 records, the winner of this fierce contest would gain sole possession of the one-seed in the Western Conference as February approaches.
The two sides battled back and forth through the first three quarters. The Thunder held a four-point lead going into the final frame. With a small advantage and home court advantage, the odds were in OKC’s favor. However, the Timberwolves made a big push to start the fourth. Quickly jumping out to their own lead, Minnesota regained control of the game.
The fourth quarter went back and forth as the two teams jockeyed for the lead. Every time the Thunder would score, it felt like the Timberwolves would answer in a big way. With less than three minutes to go, a Jaden McDaniels corner three followed by a thunderous Anthony Edwards dunk gave the Timberwolves their own four-point lead with 1:57 to go.
A Mark Daigneault timeout did not bear fruit though as OKC turned the ball over on the next possession. As time dwindled, so did the Thunder’s odds of pulling out the win. A timely McDaniels offensive tip-in was the dagger as the Timberwolves closed out OKC on the back of a 9-0 run in the clutch. Minnesota came away with a 107-101 victory.
Fourth quarter conquerors
After a horrendous fourth quarter in Minnesota’s last game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Timberwolves looked revitalized on Monday night. Exploding for 34 fourth quarter points, the Timberwolves outscored the Thunder by 10 points in the final frame.
Over the previous five games, Minnesota was averaging just 19.4 points in the fourth. Their huge performance late on Monday is a positive sign that the Wolves are tackling their recent demons.
The timely shot making is a large factor behind the win, but the big story is the Timberwolves’ ball security. Prone to turnovers from forced drives, the Wolves were much better at limiting such mistakes in the win. Posting just 13 turnovers, the Wolves had just one more turnover than the Thunder. Most specifically, the absence of live ball turnovers was huge. Typically this season, the Thunder thrive off of steals, but recorded just five in the loss.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got his, but Chet Holmgren didn’t
While the Minnesota Timberwolves have held a top-tier defense all season, containing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is easier said than done. Chris Finch threw all but the kitchen sink at the All-NBA guard, but SGA still got his. The superstar guard finished with another big time game to add to his resume. Posting 37 points on efficient 10-18 shooting (2-3 from three), Gilgeous-Alexander remained a near-impossible cover.
Behind his efficiency is his uncanny ability to get to the free throw line. SGA made 15 of his 16 free throw attempts on the night as he got Jaden McDaniels into serious foul trouble. His start and stop prowess exploited McDaniels’ ball pressure as the lengthy wing was oftentimes relying on his hands and hips to bump SGA resulting in obvious fouls.
The Thunder guard is a premier talent, but even with his elite showing, OKC came up short. Potential rookie of the year, Chet Holmgren was a non-factor for the Thunder. Scoring just four points on 2-9 shooting, the Thunder big man was outclassed by the Timberwolves big man duo.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert both secured double-digit rebound numbers with 10 and 17 respectively. Their combined 27 rebounds led the Wolves to winning the glass and controlling the game as no one on the Thunder secured more than seven boards. Beating the talented OKC Thunder is a tough task, but limiting the support cast around SGA is a must if you want to take them down on their home court. The Wolves effectively limited Holmgren leading to the win.
Season series over
The Timberwolves and Thunder are a potential budding rivalry. Gilgeous-Alexander and Edwards are the headliners. Last year’s play-in game kicked off the high stakes play between these two teams. This year’s season series has not disappointed. The Timberwolves beat OKC in the first matchup in an In-Season Tournament Group Play battle.
That matchup was decided by three points as the Wolves protected home court. The Thunder then dominated the next two battles winning by 23 points on December 26 in Oklahoma City then beating Minnesota on their home court on January 20th.
January 29th though was a revenge game as the Wolves evened up the season series which could become important for playoff seeding down the road. In the season series, the Timberwolves shot an impressive 42.9% (54-126) from three. The Wolves were consistent offensively scoring 106 points in the first two matchups, just 97 points in the third game and 107 points on Monday night.
The defense was tested by OKC’s drive and kick game. Constantly forcing rotations by attacking closeouts around SGA, the Thunder offense is a tough one to stop. When Minnesota keep them in check though, the Wolves’ offense does seemingly just enough to pull it out.
If these two teams matchup in the postseason, lessons learned from these four battles will be pivotal as the two teams appear to be true contenders over halfway into the season.
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