Naz Reid collected 27 points, 13 returns and seven assists, and Minnesota Timberwolves withdrew for a victory 116-101 over Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday evening in Minneapolis.
Anthony Edwards added 23 points, eight returns and seven assists for Minnesota, who snapped a ski with two games. Jaden McDaniels got 21 points on 9-for-18 shooting.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points, took eight returns and drew nine assists to lead Oklahoma City, which only lost for the 10th time in 54 games this season. Jalen Williams scored 20 points, and Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein listed double doubles. The former had 11 points and 10 returns, while the latter set up 10 and 12 respectively.
Minnesota shot 42.4 percent in total and 26.1 percent (12 out of 46) from 3-point intervals. Oklahoma City shot 42 percent from the field and 24.1 percent (7 out of 29) from depth.
Timberwolves played without Rudy Gobert, who was a late supplement to the injury report due to rear spasms. Teammates Mike Conley (Finger), Julius Randle (Ljumsk) and Donte Divincenzo (toe) remained on the side of the final game before the All-Star break.
A 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter helped Minnesota remove the game. Backup Big Man Luka Garza made a tip shot to finish the run and put Timberwolves on top 107-89 with eight minutes left.
Minnesota led 97-87 at the end of the third quarter.
Andrew Wiggins made a 3-pointer to pull Oklahoma City within 84-80 with 4:39 left in the third.
Minnesota responded with an 8-0 driving to move forward 92-80 with 2:48 left during the third quarter. McDaniels drove towards the edge for a floating jump shot and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Edwards struck 3 points during the run.
Timberwolves led 64-56 in half.
Gilgeous-Alexander lost a 3-point to reduce the Thunder deficit to 62-56 by 43.1 seconds left in half.
Terrence Shannon Jr. Increased Timberwolve’s lead to eight points with a jump shot on the summer.
Timberwolves Rookie guard Jaylen Clark made his first career start. The second round of UCLA ended with four points, three returns and one assist in 24 minutes.
-Field level media
