ART TAKES TIME
Wiggins hits buzzer beater to top OKC
They come in fits and starts.
There are these moments when the Thunder looks as advertised, where the combination of Russell Westbrook and Paul George and Carmelo Anthony clicks, where the defense is stifling and the offense dynamic.
On Sunday, it looked like one of those stretches had arrived in the nick of time.
Andrew Wiggins had other plans.
The Timberwolves forward stole the moment at Chesapeake Energy Arena, banking home a 30-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to boost Minnesota past Oklahoma City 115-113.
But that clutch bucket couldn’t undo all the Thunder’s progress.
“That’s who we need to be, that last five minutes,” George said. “That’s the Thunder team we need to be, regardless if shots are falling or not. I just thought defensively we were tied together, we had energy it was causing our offense to play at that same level as well”
OKC muddled its way through much of the first three quarters, its offense much improved from Saturday night’s loss at Utah — it had 60 points in the paint against the Wolves, compared to 20 against the Jazz — but still gumming up for long stretches.
The Thunder’s defensive droughts were even worse. Minnesota scored at least 27 points in each quarter and shot 50 percent in the game.
But there were moments in the fourth quarter when everything looked right.
OKC outscored Minnesota 38-27 in that final frame, and though the Wolves shot 50 percent, they committed seven turnovers that led to 11 Thunder points.
Offensively, Westbrook found a rhythm, and though he had a fourth quarter reminiscent of his late-game takeovers last season — 15 points, 3-of-5 3-point shooting — the MVP didn’t ignore his other four on the floor.
Westbrook had three fourth-quarter assists, including one to Anthony for a 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds to play that looked like it might be the game-winner.
“His man helped,” Westbrook said of finding Anthony in the corner for 3. “Once you do that, you can’t leave a Hall of Fame guy like that open.”
Anthony had eight points in the quarter. George added three, but he had chances to pour in more. He was 1 for 5 from the floor — all from 3-point range — in the fourth quarter, including some wide-open looks.
Westbrook finished with 31 points and 10 assists, Anthony 23 points and George 14 points and six rebounds. Westbrook shot 12 of 24, Anthony 9 of 19 and George 6 of 20.
“It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but we see some sparks and some good things that we know we can do at a high level,” Westbrook said. “Just got to do it for 48 minutes.”
The Wolves, like the Thunder, are due some growing pains early in the season. Minnesota added starters Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague and former Thunder Taj Gibson in the offseason in the hopes that some veteran savvy might boost a team that struggled to close out games last season.
But youngsters Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns carried the Wolves. They scored 27 points each, Wiggins adding seven rebounds and Towns 12, and they were the only Minnesota players who scored in the final three minutes.
That was enough, in part because the Thunder, though brilliant in stretches, didn’t offer consistent resistance in the first 45.
“We have the ability to some nights — regardless of how the game is going — be able to cut it on,” George said. “But we can’t rely on that.”