The Oklahoma City Thunder is one win away from the NBA Finals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff career-high 40 points and the Thunder held off the Timberwolves for a 128-126 win Monday night in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals at Target Center in Minneapolis. OKC leads the best-of-seven series 3-1 heading into Wednesday’s Game 5 at Paycom Center.
Jalen Williams scored 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting, while Chet Holmgren added 21 points for the Thunder.
Anthony Edwards scored 16 points for the Timberwolves. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo each made five 3-pointers en route to 23 and 21 points, respectively, for Minnesota.
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Alex Caruso, starting the second half in place of Isaiah Hartenstein, hit a 3-pointer to open the third quarter. It gave the Thunder an 11-point lead — its largest of the game.
Seven minutes later, after back-to-back Donte DiVincenzo threes, the Timberwolves tied things up 79-79.
Mark Daigneault called timeout to settle his guys down as Target Center reached its loudest volume of these West finals.
The Thunder responded with a mini 5-0 spurt, and after a couple of clunky possessions it was Chris Finch’s turn to call timeout.
A Chet Holmgren driving dunk extended OKC’s run to 7-0.
The Timberwolves won the quarter 28-25.
— Joe Mussatto, Columnist
4:26 left in 3Q: Thunder 79, Timberwolves 79 | Donte DiVencenzo fuels Minnesota run
DDV hitting 3s. 11-2 Wolves run to tie the game. Duality of Ant-Man in this quarter. Had two explosive drives to start, helpful in cutting down the original double-digit Thunder lead. Got ripped on a couple drives later. He’s now playmaking and ripped iJoe for a pivotal TO.
—Joel Lorenzi, Staff writer
Caruso starts the second half instead of Hartenstein and hits a corner 3 first possession.
End of first half: Thunder 65, Timberwolves 57 | OKC shutting down Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle
Minnesota shot over 60% from the floor for much of the first half.
But the Wolves go to the locker room trailing by eight points.
The reason?
The Thunder forced the Timberwolves into a whopping 12 turnovers, including nine steals. That meant Minnesota took a dozen fewer shots than Oklahoma City in the half. Five misses from the free-throw line only compounded issues.
Meanwhile, the Thunder shot 48.0% in the half, going 24 of 50 and 10 of 24 from behind the arc. It’s a huge turnaround from Game 3 when the Thunder went 12 of 40 in the first half. It made more baskets in the first quarter of Game 4.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has 21 points in the first half after only scoring 14 on Saturday. Jalen Williams has added 15 and Chet Holmgren 10.
Jaden McDaniels leads the Wolves with 12 points, but Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle have only combined for nine points.
—Jenni Carlson, Columnist
Wildly good shotmaking in that 1st on both sides. Minnesota shot 63.2% and is down 7. OKC has been better about picking at Minnesota’s shell. Jalen Williams getting going early was essential. Caruso is a +6, Dort is a +8. Been essential in bringing what OKC missed Saturday.
—Joel Lorenzi, Staff writer
End of first quarter: Thunder 37, Timberwolves 30 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC lead after first-quarter fireworks
OKC’s players had already started to jog up the floor after a dunk by Jaden McDaniels.
It was so loud inside Target Center that they didn’t hear the whistle, signaling a foul on Chet Holmgren. And it only got louder when McDaniels sank the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play.
But Jalen Williams temporarily silenced the crowd on the next possession. The All-Star forward caught a pass on the right wing and confidently knocked down a triple.
While there was no question which team the fans favored, momentum was far more fickle in the first quarter.
There were seven lead changes, but OKC ultimately claimed a 37-30 advantage. Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 13 points apiece.
—Justin Martinez, Staff writer
Intense hoop these first six-ish minutes. Everything flying. ‘Bows galore. Thunder pressuring the ball a lot differently than it did the other night. Really, really solid Jalen Williams start. He’s been physical and has knocked down jumpers. Brace yourselves after that Dort 3.
—Joel Lorenzi, Staff writer
Jaylin Williams didn’t log a second through the first two games of the West finals.
In Game 3, he started the second quarter, playing 17 minutes in the Thunder’s blowout loss.
“I’m a believer in introducing other guys to the game,” coach Mark Daigneault said ahead of Game 4. “I wasn’t planning on that, but he’s such a competitor that I thought he could give us a little bit of juice.”
The same applied to Ajay Mitchell, who entered in the same quarter. And Isaiah Joe, who started the second half in place of Isaiah Hartenstein.
Daigneault, as always, is leaving no stone unturned in a series that’s seen games unravel before fourth quarters.
“With a team like this, you never know when you can find something in those situations.”
—Joel Lorenzi, Staff writer
After committing 19 turnovers in Game 1 and 14 in Game 2, the Timberwolves took better care of the basketball in Game 3 with only 10 turnovers.
“Hopefully we’ve learned some lessons,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said before Game 4.
Whereas playing fast typically leads to more turnovers, Finch said the Wolves take better care of the ball when they’re playing with pace.
“The quicker our decision making is, the better we are,” Finch said.
Taking care of the ball is a must against OKC, which is scoring 24.3 points off turnovers per game in these playoffs — almost seven more than any other team.
—Joe Mussatto, Columnist
- Games: 76
- Points: 32.7 per game
- Rebounds: 5.0 per game
- Assists: 6.4 per game
- Steals: 1.7 per game
- Blocks: 1.0 per game
- Field-goal shooting: 51.9%
- 3-point shooting: 37.5%
- Free-throw shooting: 89.8%
- Date: Monday, May 26
- Time: 7:30 p.m. CT
- Where: Target Center in Minneapolis
The Thunder vs Timberwolves game starts at 7:30 p.m. CT Monday from Target Center in Minneapolis.
The Thunder vs Timberwolves game will be broadcast on ESPN. It can be streamed on Fubo and ESPN+.
Western Conference finals: Thunder vs. Timberwolves
Thunder vs. Timberwolves betting odds
Odds via BetMGM as of Monday, May 26
Odds: Thunder by 2.5
Over/under: 219.5
Moneyline: OKC -155 | Minnesota +125
Thunder vs. Timberwolves prediction, picks
Justin Martinez: OKC 113, Minnesota 108
Minnesota was playing for its season in Game 3, desperate to avoid a 3-0 series hole that no team in NBA history has every come back from. The Timberwolves racked up 143 points against the league’s best defense, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got held to a season-low 14 points. I don’t expect either of those things to happen again in Game 4. OKC will go back to making plays on defense, and Gilgeous-Alexander will go back to playing like the MVP. Give me the Thunder on the road.
Thunder vs. Timberwolves highlights in Game 4 of Western Conference finals
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