Timberwolves unleash blistering 22 threes, dominating Thunder wire-to-wire. Minnesota's offense ignites, erasing OKC's comeback hopes with relentless long-range firepower.
The Oklahoma City Thunder went to Minnesota on Thursday night for a game that carried real emotional charge for both teams.
Just over a month ago, Oklahoma City took a gut-punch loss at Target Center in a late thriller. This was a chance to answer that. On the other side, Minnesota had plenty of motivation of its own after getting eliminated by the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals last season, and the Timberwolves played like a team that wanted to send a message.
Minnesota did exactly that, rolling to a 123-111 win in a wire-to-wire performance where the Thunder never led.
The story of the night was Minnesota’s shot-making, especially from deep. The Timberwolves drilled 22 three-pointers, tied for their season high, and set the tone immediately by coming out hot in the first quarter and never cooling off. When Oklahoma City made a push and briefly made the margin feel manageable, Minnesota answered with back-breaking threes over a handful of possessions to stretch the lead right back out.
Anthony Edwards led the way with 26 points, Jaden McDaniels added 21, and Naz Reid chipped in 18. Julius Randle again struggled against Oklahoma City, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was efficient and got his 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting, but the support never arrived in enough volume. Chet Holmgren was the only other Thunder player to reach 15 points, and the offense felt too one-dimensional for long stretches against Minnesota’s physical pressure and crowding at the point of attack.
From here, Oklahoma City heads to Denver for a matchup with the Nuggets on Sunday night, looking to get back on track after another tough road loss.