Timberwolves outlast Thunder in battle for West No. 1 seed

The Minnesota Timberwolves are back atop the Western Conference standings after taking down the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-97 in a tight affair at the Paycom Center.

Anthony Edwards (27 points, four assists) led the way for Minnesota with Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Rudy Gobert (12 points, 17 rebounds) also proving key.

Jaden McDaniels (14 points, 6-of-11 shooting), Nickeil Alexander (12 points, game-high +10), and Jordan McLaughlin (10 points, 4-of-4 shooting) also provided head coach Chris Finch with valuable minutes.

It was a back-and-forth affair for virtually the entire of the contest with the Timberwolves erasing an early deficit to jump out to a double-digit advantage in the third.

An 11-0 Thunder run midway through the penultimate period saw them claw their way back into it before the Timberwolves put together a 34-24 fourth quarter to secure their third win from their past four.

Minnesota’s three-point shooting (14-of-29), work on the glass (53 to 41), and scoring in the painted area (46 to 34) paved the way for them to pull out a handy victory.

The Thunder were buoyed by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (37 points, eight assists) whilst Jalen Williams (20 points, 4-of-7 threes) also enjoyed a strong night.

Chet Holmgren (four points, 2-of-9 shooting) and Lu Dort (two points, 0-of-7 shooting) endured difficult nights shooting.

The Thunder are back in action against the defending champion Nuggets on Thursday whilst the Timberwolves face the Mavericks the same day.

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