Oklahoma City – Anthony Edwards blocked Shy Gilgauss Alexander’s go-ahead shot attempt as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 131-128 on Monday night.
Jaden McDaniels had 27 points, Naz Reid had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 21 points to the Timberwolves. Edwards had 17 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for Minnesota, losing 130-123 to lightning on Sunday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, but the Edwards blocked him with Rim in 13.2 seconds overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander missed a 3 pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining in the extra period that tied the scores together.
The Timberwolves chased up to 16 points in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter. According to ESPN research, they are just the second team in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) that won after tracking at least that many points left in the regulations. The Bucks did that against the Raptors after running at age 21 in their final four minutes on January 4, 2023.
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After the match, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch praised the team’s “mental toughness” for fighting the league’s top-ranked defense.
“It’s very frustrating to play this team because they foul Ton,” Finch said. “They really do. They foul all the time. And you can’t really touch shy. And it’s very frustrating and there are a lot of mentality to try it out. We need toughness. And we were able to ultimately get the problem ourselves on the downhill and were rewarded for it.”
Minnesota has attempted 39 free throw attempts against the wizard since November 28, 2022.
Jalen Williams scored 27 points and Aaron Wiggins scored 19 for Thunder.
Thunder rested ahead of Chet Holmglen, who had been sitting for three months due to a pelvic fracture before his recent return. Center Isaiah Haltenstein left the game in the second quarter, not returning to what Thunder coach Mark Daygoon called a facial conspiracy.
Oklahoma City led 82-57 in the third quarter, moving on to fourth place at 102-80. However, rookie reserve Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 11 of 17 points in that period, with the Timberwolves ahead of the Thunder 41-19.
The Minnesota rally took place mostly without Edwards. Edwards played less than four minutes in the fourth quarter and only played the last two minutes of overtime. Finch said Edwards’s legs were the fourth most annoying him. That’s why he spent most of the quarter on the bench. However, at the end of the extra period, Finch said that it was good for Edwards to come back.
After the game, the video celebrated clutch blocks in the tunnel while Edwards said he was playing “with a bad calf” in the tunnel.
The Timberwolves won without centre Rudy Gortbert, who was out due to a hip cramp, and Julius Randle, who had been out since last month due to a gro caliber injury.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
