The Oklahoma City Thunder’s second-half dominance spelled their third straight win, a 114-88 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the star that stole the show. He scored 31 points overall, including 20 of those in the second half! This victory was a huge turning point for the Thunder, as they came back to beat the Timberwolves 32-18 in the third quarter.
In that first stanza, Gilgeous-Alexander had a hard time getting into a groove. His lack of production left him with just 11 points on a horrible 2-of-13 shooting prior to the halftime break. There was no downing him as he reversed the game’s momentum after the break, knocking down 8 of 14 FG attempts in the second half. His performance was instrumental in providing his squad with a dominant lead. He recorded nine assists in the contest.
The Timberwolves took a narrow 48-44 lead into the locker room at halftime, largely buoyed by an incredible first-half effort from Julius Randle. Randle finished with 20 points in the first half, hitting five of his six triples. He wasn’t able to carry that momentum, as he only scored eight points in the second half.
Oklahoma City took over just a minute into the third quarter. Those two fueled a 10-0 spurt, turning the tide of an otherwise back-and-forth game squarely in their corner. Kenrich Williams played a pivotal role during this stretch, hitting a midrange jumper followed by a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions. As the third quarter came to a close, the Thunder found themselves up by 10 points at 76-66.
As the final quarter played out, Oklahoma City continued to control things, both offensively and defensively. The team’s stingy defense and ball movement on offense allowed them to pull away and never look back. They capped off their season with an impressive title win.
It’s very safe to assume Minnesota’s performance was only negatively impacted by the fact they had a three week layoff from competition. They weren’t suited up since May 14. Their rhythm, and their cohesion was lost, as they flailed to figure out how to counter effectively. Oklahoma City’s ongoing assault in the second half followed those glazed-over seams wide open.
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