Thunder Recover from Hefty Game 3 Loss with Game 4 Victory, Now One Win from NBA Finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder are one win away from their first NBA Finals appearance since 2012 after a 128-126 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday night. With a 3-1 series lead, the Thunder will have a chance to end the series on Wednesday back at Paycom Center. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points and had a near triple-double with 10 assists and 9 rebounds. The MVP made 13-of-30 from the field and made 12 of his 14 free-throw attempts. He made 2-of-7 attempts from downtown. 

Both Gilgeous-Alexander and his running mate Jalen Williams played complete games - SGA with 21 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in the first half and Williams with 15 in the first half on his way to 34 points. Gilgeous-Alexander’s mid-range game was in effect in the fourth quarter, a quarter that the Thunder scored 38 points in despite giving up 41. The star hit from the baseline and straight away to keep the Timberwolves at arm’s length. After Anthony Edwards finished with a scoop layup at the 7:40 mark to get the score to 103-100, Gilgeous-Alexander promptly responded with a mid-range jump shot. Chet Holmgren (21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, 9-for-14) hit from the top of the arc on what initially was ruled a 3-pointer and overturned to a long two-pointer. With 6:05 remaining, Edwards connected on a triple, his lone 3-point make of the evening. After Donte DiVincenzo (21 points, 5 assists, 7-for-11 from the field, 5-for-8 from 3-point range) connected from downtown to make the score 109-106, Gilgeous-Alexander again calmed the Thunder down with a jump shot, giving his team a 111-106 lead. 

Jaden McDaniels, who put up 22 points with 4 steals on 9-for-15 shooting and 3-of-6 from downtown, connected from the corner to cut the deficit to two, but Williams (13-for-24, 6-for-9 from 3-point range) responded with a triple. Inside finishes by McDaniels and another 3-point splash from DiVincenzo kept the Timberwolves within four, 118-114, but with the Thunder up five and a chance for Minnesota to cut the deficit to three, McDaniels was blocked at the rim by Holmgren, who had impressively stayed with McDaniels as he drove and spun for a finish. 

With a five-point lead with 39.1 seconds remaining the game, the Thunder appeared to be in control, but McDaniels stole the ball from Gilgeous-Alexander, leading to a McDaniels corner triple on a nice find from Nickeil Alexander-Walker. 

After Gilgeous-Alexander made two free-throws to give the Thunder a 125-121 lead, Rudy Gobert followed a DiVincenzo miss with a layup with 9.9 seconds remaining. 

Playing the foul game, the Timberwolves sent Gilgeous-Alexander to the line once again, and he made one of his two attempts. Julius Randle rebounded the ball and called timeout. 

The Thunder then elected to foul rather than give the Timberwolves a shot at a potential tying 3-ball, so Naz Reid was fouled. Reid, who scored 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting, made both free-throws. 126-125 Thunder. 

Gilgeous-Alexander made two free-throws, and Edwards was fouled with 3.5 seconds remaining. Edwards made the first, and intentionally missed the second. As Gilgeous-Alexander and DiVincenzo went to the floor to try and corral the ball, Gilgeous-Alexander retrieved it and tossed ahead to Isaiah Hartenstein. Inexplicably, a fan sitting courtside grabbed the ball, and after review, officials put 0.3 seconds on the clock, giving the Timberwolves one last chance, albeit slim. 

Electing to try a lob inside to Rudy Gobert, Randle was the inbounder and threw the ball toward his center. Jalen Williams alertly leapt and grabbed the ball and the clock ran out.

While Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams (Williams also put up 5 assists and 3 steals) both played up to standard, and Holmgren put forth a solid effort (Alex Caruso also played well with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting), Edwards and Randle played significantly below their talent and ability level. 

While the Thunder did a good job of crowding Edwards and denying, he only attempted 13 shots with five makes and missed six of his seven long range attempts. Five of his 16 points came from the free-throw line. Randle was just 1-for-7 shooting, and three of his five points came from the line. In a game where they needed both of their marquees to step up, the Timberwolves’ high profile players simply played like they forgot that they were down in the series. Instead, it was their role players - DiVincenzo, Alexander-Walker, Reid, and McDaniels - who played to the moment. Gobert posted 13 points and 9 rebounds with 1 block, but you still want more from him. He has trouble catching the ball inside and should rebound better. Terrance Shannon Jr. had a great game off the bench with 9 points in 8 minutes. He scored 15 points on 5-of-8 in Game 2.

The Wolves shot 51.2% to the Thunder’s 50.5%, and did make 18-of-41 attempts from 3-point range, for a better percentage than the Thunder’s 43.2%, 16-of-37. The Wolves also got to the line more, with 22 makes on 28 attempts. The Thunder converted 16-of-21. Minnesota also outrebounded the Thunder 41-36, but committed 21 turnovers to 14. 

On top of the turnovers, the Timberwolves’ stars did not show up when the Thunder’s did. Randle has now produced single digits in two games in this series (6 in Game 2 and 5 in Game 4, and no points in the second half on Monday night) and Edwards has now scored under 20 points twice in this series - 18 in Game 1 and 16 in Game 4. The playoffs are all about the stars leading and they should be playing their best when the season is in the balance. 

For the Timberwolves, though, their stars did not do that. And they are now staring elimination in the face on Wednesday night back in Oklahoma City as the Thunder recovered in a huge way on Monday from their 143-101 loss in Game 3.