T’Wolves beat OKC

MINNEAPOLIS — Rudy Gobert had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks, reserve Troy Brown Jr. scored a seasonhigh 17 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves withstood an injury to Anthony Edwards to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 106103 on Tuesday night in the NBA In-Season Tournament.

Edwards had 12 of his 21 points in the third quarter to lead the Wolves (13-4) back after trailing most of the first half, before landing hard during a dunk attempt and leaving the game with a bruised right hip. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points on 13-for22 shooting for the Thunder. His 37-foot try to tie at the buzzer, his only 3-point attempt of the night, was well off the mark.

Brown made one of two foul shots with 4.5 seconds left to give the Thunder an opening, but the Wolves capped a stifling defensive performance in the second half — fueled by a switch to zone — with one more denial. Brown, in his first year with the Wolves after playing last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, swished a fadeaway 3-pointer from 29 feet for a five-point lead with 1:39 to go. Then he got a layup in traffic to fall with 31.6 seconds left to make it 103-98.

Chet Holmgren, who went 6 for 20 from the floor for 16 points, hit a 3-pointer with 26.6 seconds left to bring the Thunder back within two. Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds, answered with a pair of free throws on the other end. The Thunder (11-6) had only 42 points in the second half and shot 6 for 26 in the third quarter against a Wolves team that leads the Western Conference with the best 17-game start in franchise history. The Wolves finished 3-1 in the Western Conference Group C. The Thunder went 1-3. Golden State played at Sacramento later Tuesday to determine the group champion. By only winning by three points, the Wolves were eliminated from contention because point differential serves as the second tiebreaker behind head-to-head results.