Thunder fend off Timberwolves, take 3-1 lead behind SGA’s 40-point night

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS — Being blown out the game before didn’t sit well with Oklahoma City.

The young Thunder moved within one win of the NBA Finals with a championship response.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a steely performance befitting the NBA MVP and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped back from a 42-point loss by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves, 128-126, in Game 4 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

“I tried not to worry too much about scoring or making plays or whatever it was,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I tried to just lose myself in the competition, be aggressive, pick my spots.”

Jalen Williams scored 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting, including 6 for 9 from 3-point range, and Chet Holmgren added 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in a statement game in his hometown that helped the Thunder stave off several pushes by the Wolves to tie the series.

Gilgeous-Alexander went 12 for 14 from the free-throw line, making a pair with 6.1 seconds left to stretch the lead back to three. The Thunder fouled Anthony Edwards with 3.5 seconds to go, and his intentional miss of the second free throw to try to keep possession was tracked down in the corner by Gilgeous-Alexander and flung out of bounds to drain the clock.

The Wolves had one more desperation inbounds pass from half-court with 0.3 seconds remaining that Williams grabbed to send the Thunder back to Oklahoma City for a close-out Game 5 on Wednesday.

“They outplayed us, outrebounded us, got more of the 50-50 balls,” said Edwards, who was limited to 16 points. “Wanted it a little bit more.”

Nickeil Alexander-Walker (23 points) and Donte DiVincenzo (21 points) each shot 5 for 8 from 3-point range to lead a second straight onslaught of bench offense to keep the Wolves close all night, but the Thunder always had an answer for the mini-runs they managed. They trailed for only 36 seconds, all stretches in the first quarter.

“Give their role guys credit,” Coach Mark Daigneault said. “The shot-making was ridiculous, so for us to overcome that on the road the way we did was a great team win.”

Any intrigue about how the Thunder would respond from Game 3 quickly disappeared when Williams started hitting from deep to lead an 11-of-17 shooting start from the floor. The Thunder grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, too.

The Thunder, for all their dominance, have shown a hint of vulnerability away from Paycom Center, where they’re 7-1 with a plus-191 scoring differential this postseason. But Luguentz Dort helped bottle up Edwards and Julius Randle (five points on 1-of-7 shooting), and the Thunder forced 23 turnovers to help offset those 64 bench points.

“Uphill battle,” DiVincenzo said, “but everybody is sticking together, understanding that you try to look at this game and grab any sort of hope.”