Timberwolves takeaways from Game 4: Thunder hold on for 128-126 victory

Chris Hine, The Minnesota Star Tribune on May 26, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS — The Timberwolves are a team that pride themselves on defense, but it was their defense that ultimately let them down in a 128-126 loss to the Thunder.

Oklahoma City leads the best-of-seven Western Conference finals 3-1.

The Wolves allowed Oklahoma City to crush them on the offensive glass for 24 second-chance points while the Thunder hit clutch shot after clutch shot down the stretch.

The Wolves shot 51% for the night, 44% from 3-point range, and that helped them overcome 22 turnovers, but the Thunder’s top three offensive threats feasted. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points, Jalen Williams had 34 and Chet Holmgren added 21.

Anthony Edwards had just 16 on only 13 shot attempts (two in the first half) for the Wolves while Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 23, Jaden McDaniels had 22 and Donte DiVincenzo had 21.

The Wolves bench outscored the starters 64-62.

Oklahoma City shot 51%.

The Wolves had the ball with 0.3 seconds to play down two but Williams stole the inbound to seal it.

Turning point

The start of the fourth quarter, when the Thunder opened 7 for 10 from the floor to prevent the Wolves from overtaking them. The Thunder answered seemingly every Wolves bucket with one of their own, and they built a 109-100 lead with 6:20 to play.

The Wolves cut it to 111-109 with 4:34 to play before the Thunder responded with five straight points. Oklahoma City opened the quarter 11 for 16.

The Wolves never had the ball with the game within one possession after that until Gilgeous-Alexander hit just one of two free throws with 8.8 seconds to play. The Thunder opted to foul the Wolves, Naz Reid hit a pair to put them down 126-125 before Gilgeous-Alexander hit another pair with 6.1 left.

Alex Caruso fouled Edwards with 3.5 to play. Edwards intentionally missed the second of two free throws, but the Thunder got the rebound and threw the ball out of bounds before the Wolves’ last gasp.

How the rest happened

The tone was intense from the start of game, and the officials let both teams have play with a lot of contact. They both began the night 7 for 13 before the first timeout at the 5:38 mark. McDaniels had 10 for the Wolves while Williams had eight for the Thunder.

Edwards did not take his first shot of the quarter until there were 35.1 seconds left. In the meantime, the Wolves committed seven turnovers in the quarter — four on four consecutive possessions — and the Thunder shot 56%.

Both Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander had 13 in the quarter on a combined 10 for 14. The only saving grace for the Wolves was they shot 12 for 19 when they weren’t turning the ball over.

The Wolves gave up ground on the offensive glass and allowed the Thunder to score 11 second-chance points in the first half, and Edwards remained a non-shooting participant on offense with just two shot attempts in the first half.

Alexander-Walker picked up the scoring slack for the Wolves with a 4 for 5 first-half off the bench and 11 points, but the Wolves stayed behind in the first half on the margins. There was one possession in which the Thunder scored five points, after the Wolves failed to secure a free-throw rebound, and that resulted in a 3 for Kenrich Williams. That extended the Thunder lead to nine, their largest of the first half before they went into the locker room up 65-57.

Edwards was a little more aggressive in the third as the Wolves battled back to tie the score 79-79 as Alexander-Walker hit a 3 and DiVincenzo hit 3s on consecutive possessions, forcing a timeout from Thunder coach Mark Daigneault.

The Thunder scored seven straight out of that timeout before the Thunder closed ahead 90-85.

MVP

After his supporting cast had a rough Game 3, Gilgeous-Alexander sensed the moment and came out more aggressive. He had 40 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Then Williams and Holmgren joined him.

Key stat

24 — second-chance points for the Thunder.

When the Wolves look back on this game, that one will hurt the most. Even more than the 22 turnovers they committed. If the Wolves clean up the boards, they win the game.

Up next

Game 5 is Wednesday in Oklahoma City (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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