By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS — 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.
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 one to try to keep possession was tracked down in the corner by Gilgeous-Alexander and flung out of bounds in an attempt to drain the clock.
The Wolves had one more inbounds pass with 0.3 seconds remaining that Williams grabbed to send the Thunder back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Wednesday with the chance to advance to the NBA Finals.
Edwards was limited to 16 points, and Julius Randle (five points on 1-for-7 shooting) was also bottled up by the Thunder’s relentless defense led by Luguentz Dort.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (23 points) and Donte DiVincenzo (21 points) each went 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.
Any intrigue about how the Thunder would respond to the 143-101 drubbing in Game 3 quickly disappeared when Williams started hitting from deep to lead an 11-for-17 shooting start from the floor.
After shooting just 28% from 3-point range over their first six road games in these NBA playoffs, the Thunder shot 16 for 37 – straining the Wolves defensively with all the difficulty Gilgeous-Alexander was presenting again following a quiet game on Saturday.
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.
More to come on this story.
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