The Minnesota Timberwolves were down 106-82 on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder with 10:50 left in the fourth quarter Monday night. The night before, the Thunder had beaten the Wolves 130-123 in Minneapolis.
Chris Finch doesn’t like to rest his players. He probably doesn’t like to use the excuse of a schedule loss, either. Still, the Timberwolves didn’t land in Oklahoma City until 3 a.m. They probably did not get settled into their hotel across from the Paycom Center until around 4 a.m. Minnesota was also without Rudy Gobert (back spasms), Julius Randle (right groin strain), and Donte DiVincenzo (left great toe sprain).
Still, they had beaten the Thunder at Target Center in the last game before the All-Star break, 116-101, without all three players and Mike Conley (right finger sprain). However, ESPN listed OKC’s win probability at 99.9% early in the fourth quarter on Monday.
“It was clear at times that we were a little empty in the gas tank,” Finch said postgame. “[We] could not get anything established, but the rhythm of the game changed when those guys off the bench brought it up.”
Fans have been hoping the Wolves would reach the consistency they played at last season, but even last year’s team probably would have lost this game.
OKC shot 23 of 45 (51.1%) from the floor in the first half and 7 of 17 (41.2%) from deep, while Minnesota shot 18 of 43 (41.9%) overall and 4 of 18 (22.2%) from three-point range. The Wolves looked like a sleep-deprived team. Even though the Thunder spent the same amount of time in the air the night before, OKC was playing like the best team in the West.
“We kept fighting. The team fights. It always has,” Finch said postgame. “We don’t always play the prettiest basketball, but it has been fighting for a long, long time.”
You need not look up ESPN’s win probability tracker. A simple look at each team’s score in the second half would have told you all you needed to know. OKC built a 25-point lead in the third quarter, humming past a team six spots lower than them in the West. However, the Wolves tore down that lead in the blink of an eye, completing their largest comeback win in franchise history, beating OKC 131-128 in overtime.
Minnesota did so in a way that should catapult it for the rest of the season.
“Obviously, we needed to keep scoring and finding the right ways to convert on offense, but when we got it down to 12, I thought we had a chance,” Finch said. “I would not have necessarily put money on us winning, but I thought at that point we had a chance.”
The Wolves chipped OKC’s lead down to 12 with 4:49 left in the fourth quarter. ESPN still listed the Thunder’s win probability at 98.7%, but Finch believed in his squad. When Terrence Shannon Jr. cut the lead to 12 with a layup, Rob Dillingham, Anthony Edwards, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Naz Reid surrounded him.
A few plays later, Edwards slipped and injured his calf, forcing Finch to take Ant out after playing only 3:30 in the fourth. Finch replaced him with Jaden McDaniels. In doing so, he stumbled upon the lineup that brought Minnesota back into the game.
The Wolves outscored OKC 41-19 in the fourth. Finch rolled with Dillingham, Shannon, Alexander-Walker, McDaniels, and Reid for 3:30 of the frame. During that stretch, they outscored the Thunder 14-0 while recording a 200.0 offensive rating and shooting 4 of 6 from the floor and 5 of 5 from the free throw line.
Finch subbed Jaylen Clark in for the last possession of regulation, and he locked down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to force overtime.
Dillingham, Shannon, Alexander-Walker, McDaniels, and Reid started the first three minutes of overtime before Finch went back to Edwards with 1:48 left after Ant decided he was good enough to return. Finch was hesitant to bring back his best player, not because he was not 100% physically but because the young group was playing so well.
If you had told a Wolves fan that three months ago, they would have called you crazy.
Choosing to check Edwards back into the game proved valuable as he was responsible for the play that appeared on everyone’s social media feeds the next morning. Edwards’ head nearly hit the rim as he swatted Gilgeous-Alexander’s shot to seal the win and flexed on SGA before the play ended. The block wasn’t as much of a spectacle as Edwards’ rejection against the Indiana Pacers last season, but it was similar.
Ant finished the night off by giving one of his spirited postgame interviews on the court alongside Alexander-Walker and McDaniels. Edwards is the poster child of Minnesota’s historic comeback. However, his injury forced Finch to commit to a younger lineup, which was ultimately why the Wolves pulled it off.
“I think it gives the coaches confidence,” Edwards said when a reporter asked him what the win would do for the team going forward. “As far as Jaden and Nickeil, ya’ll go play. If they get to doing too much, then you may pull them to the side. But other than that, ya’ll go play. It gives [the coaches] confidence, in a sense, to let those guys do their thing because they looked good tonight.”
The Timberwolves now embark on the NBA’s third-easiest schedule with 23 games remaining. Randle and DiVincenzo could return soon.
The Wolves are a confusing team. Their win over OKC was just another incline on a nauseating rollercoaster of a season. However, health is on the horizon, and Monday’s comeback could be what this team needs to finish the last quarter of the season strong, avoid the Play-In Tournament, or maybe hold home-court advantage in the first round.
If Monday’s win tells us anything, it’s that this team can do the unexpected.
