Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 factors and 11 rebounds to steer Minnesota into the playoffs, because the Timberwolves muscled and hustled their well beyond the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95 to complete the play-in match on Friday night time.
Rudy Gobert had 21 factors and 10 rebounds in his return from exile for swinging at teammate Kyle Anderson, and the Wolves crammed out the NBA playoff bracket by seizing the No. 8 seed within the Western Conference with a near-perfect efficiency on the finish of one other harder-than-it-had-to-be season.
Anthony Edwards added 19 factors and 10 rebounds for the Wolves, who had a 58-30 benefit in factors within the paint. They will face No. 1 seed Denver in a best-of- seven collection beginning on Sunday night time.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 22 factors, going 12 for 12 from the free throw line however simply 5 for 19 from the sphere. Jalen Williams and Lu Dort every scored 17 factors.
With their greatest defender Jaden McDaniels out with a damaged hand — because of a wall he punched out of frustration within the last regular-season recreation shortly earlier than Gobert took a swing at Anderson in an argument throughout a timeout — the Timberwolves put Nickiel Alexander-Walker within the beginning lineup. He guarded his cousin, the dynamic Gilgeous-Alexander, on the suggestion of president of basketball operations Tim Connelly.
“He’s a really tough cover, but we were closing all the spaces around him,“ coach Chris Finch said. “We did a good job of never really letting him get in a rhythm.”
Gilgeous-Alexander was gradual to get going within the Thunder’s play-in match opener, too, earlier than scoring 25 of his 32 factors after halftime within the 113-108 win over New Orleans. This time, the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer picked up his fourth foul early within the third quarter after which needed to go away for remedy a couple of minutes later after Gobert by chance elbowed him within the eye as he rebounded and dunked his personal miss.
Towns had 24 factors on 8-for-12 capturing in Minnesota’s 108-102 additional time loss in Los Angeles within the first play-in recreation on Tuesday, however he camped out on the perimeter an excessive amount of down the stretch because the Wolves offense grinded to a woeful end.
This time, the Wolves took a significantly better mix of inside and outside photographs with a always shifting ball. They leaned arduous on their benefit across the basket, with the massive males Towns and Gobert going to work in opposition to the smaller Thunder.
Gobert moved round relatively stiffly, listed as questionable with a again harm that may have saved him out in opposition to the Lakers anyway to make his team-imposed suspension moot. He wore a wrap round his midsection when he was on the bench, however he discovered his groove within the second half.
The Thunder got here a good distance from the lack of No. 2 total decide Chet Holmgren, the 7-foot-1 Minneapolis native who broke his foot in an offseason pro-am recreation, however they let the Timberwolves pile up the highlights down the stretch.
“It was nice not to give back a lead, which we’ve done quite a bit,” Finch stated. “The guys were super locked-in. They knew what it was going to take.”
RELEARNING PROCESS
The Wolves gained three of 4 matchups with the Thunder, enjoying twice within the first 5 days of the season and twice extra by Dec. 16. Towns was out with an harm then. The three-team commerce that jettisoned D’Angelo Russell from the Minnesota backcourt and introduced in Conley and Alexander-Walker was nonetheless two months from conception.
So was it even value reviewing the movie from these video games?
“We do because we’re paranoid, and what else are you going to do? Like, watch Netflix?” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault stated. “But it’s different. They’re missing guys. We’re different. Both teams have evolved since then.”
WITH HONORS
Daigneault was introduced by the NBA as certainly one of three finalists for the Coach of the Year award. Gilgeous-Alexander (Most Improved Player) and Jalen Williams (Rookie of the Year) additionally landed on their respective lists. Scott Brooks (2010) is the one earlier Coach of the Year winner the franchise has had because it moved to Oklahoma City in 2008.
TIP-INS
Thunder: Josh Giddey went simply 2 for 13 from the ground.
Timberwolves: Edwards, who went 3 for 17 from the sphere in opposition to the Lakers, made 8 of 19 photographs. … Walker-Alexander had 12 factors.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
