It’s often said that a seven-game series doesn’t truly begin until one of the teams wins on the road. After OKC won the first two games by 26 and 15 points, it looked like the Thunder would just overmatch the Timberwolves and cruise to the NBA Finals.
But Minnesota won 49 games during the regular season and posted a 25-16 mark at home for reasons. And they took care of both playoff series in five games.
In Game 3 at home, they rudely welcomed OKC to Minnesota with a 143-101 beatdown.
But OKC was the best team for most of the season and lost only eight games on the road. They also only had two losing streaks consisting of two games each.
On Monday, the Thunder reasserted dominance with a 128-126 win to go up 3-1 in the series.
The Thunder jumped out to a seven-point lead after one quarter then went into halftime with an eight-point lead. The Timberwolves cut that down to five points heading into the third quarter and got to within one point at the end of regulation, but the Thunder prevailed.
Both teams shot over 50% from the field and 40% from downtown. Minnesota made four more free throws, grabbed six more rebounds and dished out eight more assists.
OKC had five more steals, two more blocks and turned the ball over nine fewer times.
After a disappointing Game 3, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,300; 67.5 FPTS) was in MVP form, finishing with 40 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and a steal in 40 minutes. He shot 13-of-30 from the field, 2-of-7 from downtown and 12-of-14 from the line.
Jalen Williams ($7,600; 51.25 FPTS) put up 34 points, three rebounds, five assists and two steals in 39 minutes. He shot 13-of-24 from the field, 6-of-9 from beyond the arc and made both of his free throws.
Chet Holmgren ($6,700; 39.75 FPTS) stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, seven rebounds, an assist, three blocks and a steal in 33 minutes.
Isaiah Hartenstein ($5,300; 14 FPTS) only played 16 minutes while Alex Caruso ($4,500; 18.5 FPTS) started the second half for him and finished with 33 minutes. Caruso had 10 points, two rebounds, an assist and two steals.
Every Thunder player except for Isaiah Joe ($3,300; 5 FPTS) had a steal, with four players having multi-steal games.
For Minnesota:
Nickeil Alexander-Walker ($3,500; 43 FPTS) has been the Value Du Jour for all the Showdown slates so far. On Monday, he put up a ceiling game with 23 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals in 29 minutes. After finishing the regular season with a 16.4% usage rate, NAW has been over 20% in each of the last three games against the Thunder.
Jaden McDaniels ($5,700; 40.5 FPTS) put up 22 points, four rebounds, two assists, a block and four steals.
Donte DiVincenzo ($4,400; 35.75 FPTS) contributed 21 points, three rebounds, five assists and a steal in 28 minutes. He shot 7-of-11 from the field and 5-of-8 from downtown.
The role players were given opportunities because the Thunder stymied Anthony Edwards ($9,100; 28 FPTS). He attempted one shot in the first quarter, and that came with 35.1 seconds left. Edwards finished Game 4 with 16 points, four rebounds and six assists in 41 minutes. He shot 5-of-13 from the field and 1-of-7 from downtown.
Julius Randle ($7,800; 17.75 FPTS) had another poor game, contributing only five points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in 28 minutes. He shot 1-of-7 from the field, missed all three treys and went 3-of-4 from the line.
Terrence Shannon Jr. ($3,000; 11 FPTS) impacted the game in only eight minutes of action, contributing nine points and two rebounds. He did have two turnovers, but he provided juice on offense while he has length and athleticism to be a factor on defense, although his off-ball awareness still needs work. In Game 3, Shannon played 13 minutes and put up 15 points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal.
The Thunder will look to close out the series on Wednesday at home.
