National Basketball Association
Minnesota 98, Oklahoma City 90
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials:
# Brent Haskill, #14 Ed Malloy, #49 Tom Washington
Attendance:
14375
By Field Level Media
Anthony Edwards scored a team-high 22 points on 8-for-17 shooting, and the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for a 98-90 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns scored 17 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in his return from a six-game absence in the league's COVID-19 protocol. D'Angelo Russell returned from a five-game absence in the protocol and finished with six points on 3-for-12 shooting.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 19 points. Rookie Josh Giddey posted a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Aaron Wiggins finished with 11 points.
The Thunder pulled within 85-83 with 4:58 remaining in the fourth quarter. Kenrich Williams made a layup off of an assist from Giddey to close the gap to two points.
The Timberwolves answered with a 7-0 run to make it 92-83 with 2:26 to play. Patrick Beverley made one free throw, Jaylen Nowell made two more, and then Beverley and Nowell traded back-to-back baskets.
A 3-pointer by Edwards boosted Minnesota's lead to 97-89 with 1:02 to go, and the Timberwolves did not look back from there.
Minnesota led 69-63 at the end of the third quarter. The Timberwolves built a 19-point lead with 4:11 left in the period, but Oklahoma City closed the quarter on a 17-4 run.
Gilgeous-Alexander had two 3-pointers, a pull-up jumper and a pair of free throws during the run.
Minnesota raced to a 30-10 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Timberwolves went on a 14-0 run early in the quarter to transform a 4-4 tie into an 18-4 advantage.
Nowell put the Timberwolves on top by 20 points when he drained a 3-pointer with 1:26 left in the quarter.
Oklahoma City had a 26-19 advantage in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 13. After falling behind 31-10, the Thunder went on a 21-8 run to pull within 39-31 with 4:14 left in the half.
Beverley capped the first-half scoring on a 3-pointer for the Timberwolves with 41.1 seconds to go before the break as the Timberwolves led 49-36 at the half.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Oklahoma City |
|
Minnesota |
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 19 |
Scoring |
Anthony Edwards 22 |
Josh Giddey 6 |
Assists |
Patrick Beverley 6 |
Josh Giddey 15 |
Rebounds |
Karl-Anthony Towns 16 |
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Karl-Anthony Towns 4 |
Kenrich Williams 4 |
Steals |
Anthony Edwards 5 |
Mike Muscala 3 |
Blocks |
Naz Reid 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Oklahoma City
|
90 |
36.7 |
9-35 |
15-18 |
21 |
52 |
7 |
11 |
18 |
Minnesota
|
98 |
40.0 |
12-44 |
14-20 |
23 |
55 |
7 |
11 |
16 |
Upcoming Games
-
Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Oklahoma City. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .588 after a win and .381 after a loss.
-
Oklahoma City will play their next game at home against Minnesota. The Thunder have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .292 after a loss.