Ricky Rubio hit a three-pointer with two-tenths of a second remaining, putting the Minnesota Timberwolves up 99-96 and stunning the Oklahoma City Thunder and a sellout crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
“I’ve been working on the shot a lot,” Rubio told the Star Tribune. “I feel more confident lately. Hard work pays off.”
Rubio and Karl-Anthony Towns had double-doubles on Friday night, with Rubio delivering 13 points and 12 assists and Towns finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Gorgui Dieng led the team with 25 points and Andrew Wiggins had 20. All five starters, which includes Zach LaVine, finished with a positive plus-minus rating. Six bench players had a negative rating, however.
“We’re growing up and we’re learning to play as a team,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been talking about this: We’ve got to start competing better against some of the Western Conference better teams. I’m just proud of our guys.”
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 28 points and Russell Westbrook had 26, all five Oklahoma City starters were in the minus and Enes Kanter was the only other OKC player that finished with a double-digit point total.
“These guys are averaging 110 points a game and we held them to 14 points below their average,” Mitchell told the Associated Press. “For these guys to step up and take the challenge on the road, and this is a tough building to play in, it was just a great win for us.”
[Star Tribune, Associated Press]
