West-leading Thunder outlast Timberwolves 130-123 behind 37 points from Gilgeous-Alexander
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 37 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals to help the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 130-123 on Sunday night to open a home-and-home set.
The teams will play again Monday night in Oklahoma City.
Chet Holmgren added 19 points for the Thunder, who shot a season-best 54% (19 for 35) from 3-point range.
Gilgeous-Alexander re-entered the game with eight minutes left and sparked an 18-4 spurt over the next 5:16 after his cousin, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, hit a 3-pointer that put the Timberwolves up 110-105.
Anthony Edwards had 29 points and 10 rebounds for the short-handed Timberwolves (31-27), who wiped out a 19-point deficit in the second quarter before losing for the fourth time in five games.
The Thunder (46-10) have lost only once in the last 25 days, when they fell in Minnesota on Feb. 13. Oklahoma City has a 9 1/2-game lead over Denver and Memphis for the Western Conference lead.
Takeaways
Thunder: Aaron Wiggins and Alex Caruso were vital off the bench. Caruso hit three 3-pointers and had steal to set up a 3-pointer by Gilgeous-Alexander over a 2:47 stretch midway through the fourth quarter.
Timberwolves: Missing the starting frontcourt, Rudy Gobert (back) and Julius Randle (groin), the Timberwolves lost Jaylen Clark in the third quarter. Clark got a steal and attacked the basket for an off-balance layup attempt against Oklahoma City 7-footer Isaiah Hartenstein, before he landed on his back and banged his head on the floor while his neck jerked backward. Clark was down for a while before being slowly helped up and guided to the locker room, and the Timberwolves eventually ruled him out for the remainder of the game.
The 6-foot-4 Clark, a second-round draft pick out of UCLA in 2023 who didn't play as a rookie while he recovered from a torn Achilles tendon, got his second career start Sunday night in a small-ball lineup for the Wolves. He had 14 points in 18 minutes.
Minnesota led 85-78 when Clark departed and was outscored 25-11 over the rest of the third quarter. Coach Chris Finch had no update on Clark's condition after the game. The Wolves play at Oklahoma City on Monday night.
Key moment
After the Thunder went up 52-33 by making 19 of their first 27 shots, the Timberwolves had a 25-4 run over a 6:07 stretch. With Holmgren on him at the top of the key, Edwards used a crossover dribble and a slight step-back for his first made 3-pointer of the game with 2:36 left in the second quarter.
Key stat
The Timberwolves missed 11 of their first 12 attempts from 3-point range.