Ten days after beating Oklahoma City with a short-handed roster at Target Center, Minnesota gave the Thunder another solid run on Sunday.
Ultimately, this time, the Thunder hit too many shots down the stretch.
Oklahoma City went 7 for 11 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter to down Minnesota 130-123 in Minneapolis.
The same two teams will meet again on Monday in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder’s shot making was required to offset a sparkling final frame from Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The reserve guard scored 13 points in the fourth on the strength of three made triples on a night when his cousin, Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, paced his team with 37 points, eight assists and seven boards.
Minnesota went down as many as 19 points in the first quarter and appeared to be en route to a blowout defeat early. But a couple Luka Garza offensive rebounds seemingly stemmed the tide for Minnesota. The Wolves defense started to pick up and Minnesota looked a lot more like the team that blitzed Oklahoma City in the game prior to the all-star break.
Minnesota came all the way back in the second frame to claim a five-point advantage late in the half to claim a five-point edge before Jalen Williams hit a triple at the buzzer to cut Oklahoma City’s deficit to two as both teams went into the locker room.
Minnesota led by seven in the third quarter when Jaylen Clark, who was a defensive menace yet again for the Wolves, collected his fourth steal of the night and proceeded to attack the bucket. Clark went to the deck hard after the shot attempt, and seemed to slam his head on the floor. He held the back of his head as he slowly made his way back to the locker room. He missed the remainder of the contest for what the team called “neck soreness.”
Clark’s physicality is a necessity for Minnesota in its efforts to defend Gilgeous-Alexander. Minnesota won Clark’s minutes by 20 points on Sunday.
Oklahoma City (46-10) went from down seven when he exited to up seven by the end of the third quarter.
Anthony Edwards finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Wolves (31-27).
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