Timberwolves 116, Thunder 101: A Much Needed Bounce-Back Win

Without four rotation players, the Wolves youth movement leads them to vicotry over the West-leading Thunder

The Minnesota Timberwolves closed out their pre-All-Star break schedule with a matchup against the team with the NBA’s best record, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Wolves were incredibly shorthanded as Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert did not play in the game, adding to the laundry list of missing Wolves that includes Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo who have been out the past couple of weeks.

The energy inside Target Center started out low with each team trading baskets as the Wolves tried to hang in the game without four of their usual rotation players. All of that changed when Anthony Edwards absolutely detonated on Chet Holmgren.

The mood in the building changed right at that moment as seemingly the entire crowd woke up from hibernation. The Wolves would ride that way of energy, to a 22-9 run to take a 40-24 lead head early in the second quarter.

The Thunder would slowly chip away at that lead through the remainder of the first half with Jalen Williams leading the way with 14 points. The Wolves lead was down to just six points before a layup at the buzzer from Terrence Shannon Jr. put the lead at 64-56 at halftime.

The Thunder continued inching closer and closer to taking the lead in the second half, tying the game at 68-68 in part due to a stretch of 13 straight missed 3-pointers from the Timberwolves.

The lid on the rim would finally lift for the Wolves when Nickeil Alexander-Walker made a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Wolves the lead back. Minnesota would go 6-12 from beyond the arc the remainder of the third quarter to give the Wolves a 97-87 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

With a chance to put the game away, the Wolves would go on a 10-0 early in the quarter including a beautiful two-man sequence from Naz Reid and Rob Dillingham. The sequence pushed the lead to 18, an amount that allowed the Wolves to cruise the rest of the way to a 116-101 victory over the juggernaut Thunder.

Naz was fantastic for the Wolves the entire game, scoring a team-high 27 points on 11-18 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds and seven assists. The three Wolves rookies, Shannon Jr, Dillingham, and Jaylen Clark combined 23 crucial points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 24 points, more than eight points less than his league-leading 32.6 points per game.

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Key Takeaways

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Youth Movement

Without four of their normal rotation players, the Timberwolves needed to get production from areas of their roster that have not played very much to this point in the season. The Wolves got exactly that as their three rookies along with Luka Garza all had excellent games playing within their role.

As the three main players coming off the bench for the Wolves, Shannon Jr, Dillingham, and Garza all provided immense value in their minutes, each having a double-digit positive plus-minus. When they were in the game, the ball movement was spectacular as the Wolves’ offense consistently produced open looks.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch talked after the game about the impact some of the young players had on the court.

“I think everybody who came in really did something to impact winning tonight. Had some amazing performances. I thought Jaden and Naz were spectacular. TJ off the bench was good Luka gave us really good minutes too. We needed this win, and against a really good team, and the key the game was taking care of the ball. We knew coming in, if we take care of the ball, we have chance to win.”

As Finch said, this was a much-needed win for the Wolves. They were coming off losses in their last two games including a dispirating loss against the shorthanded Bucks. If they would have lost, it would have been their third three-game losing streak of the season. Last year they avoided losing three in a row the entire regular season.

Instead, the Wolves head into the All-Star breaks with one of their best wins of the year, keeping pace with the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks in their fight for a top-six seed to avoid the Play-In Tournament.

Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels Excel as the Starting Frontcourt

Without Randle and Gobert in the lineup, Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels started as the two primary big men, each sliding down a position from where they usually play.

Naz was the Wolves primary center, as position that had mixed results for him early in the year. Tonight, the Wolves longest-tenured players was exceptional on both ends of the court, finishing just three assists shy of a triple-double.

McDaniels played his minutes at power forward, a position he has seen few minutes at this year with Reid and Randle locking down that position. McDaniels similar to Reid played great on both ends of the floor, scoring 21 points while dishing out five assists and grabbing six rebounds.

The pair along with Edwards finished with a combined 71 points, 27 rebounds, and 19 assists in a convincing wire-to-wire win. It was the first time in a game this season where the Thunder did not have a lead at any point in the game,.

The performances of Reid and McDaiels combined with the young players’ contributions paint a picture of what the Wolves could look like when Conley and Gobert age out from being starting-caliber players and if Randle is no longer on the team past this coming offseason.

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Up Next

The Timberwolves are now off for more than a week for the All-Star break. Edwards will participate in the 2025 All-Star Game. NBA’s new All-Star tournament begins at 7:20 PM CT this Sunday on TNT, TBS, and truTV.

The Wolves’ first game after the All-Star break is on Friday, February 21 against the Houston Rockets. The game begins at 8:30 PM CT and will air nationally on ESPN.

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Game Highlights