Controversial plays crucial in 114-112 loss

With the Thunder clinging to a two-point lead on the second night of a backto-back, Jerami Grant skied for a block on Karl-Anthony

Towns that left Chesapeake Energy Arena in awe. The next play did, too.

Towns looked to have fouled Grant with 42.9 seconds left, and the ball made its way to Minnesota’s

Dario Saric in the corner for a 3-pointer that put the Timberwolves ahead by one with 37.8 seconds left in an eventual 114-112 Thunder loss.

A couple of possessions before, Grant looked to have been pulled down by former Thunder forward Taj

Gibson, but was called for a foul on Gibson.

Gibson made 1-of-2 at the free throw line.

“It’s a physical play, it’s late in the game,” Gibson said. “They’re gonna call whatever they’re going to call. I just went up, tried to be aggressive. I know Jerami, he tried to be aggressive. They just called a foul.”

Those are four points that Billy Donovan and the Thunder’s bench weren’t happy with during the closing seconds of the fourth quarter. The foul on Towns would have been his sixth.

“The one I did see, he was clearly taken down on the play,” Donovan said of the play that led to Saric’s 3-pointer. “It was a huge play in the game because it was three points.

“The interpretation I got was both guys were wrestling. We’ll see what it looks like on film. Film doesn’t lie.”

It wasn’t the Thunder’s biggest issue, however, as the Timberwolves made 14 3-pointers, including 10-of26 in the second half.

On Saric’s play, no Thunder player was within 15 feet of him. Every Thunder player was shaded toward the strong side of the court, many complaining about the no-call on Towns.

Patterson in

Steven Adams wasn’t in the game and he wasn’t on the Thunder’s sideline, the clock ticking away as the T-Wolves threatened to stop OKC’s winning streak. So, Donovan went with

Patrick Patterson on Towns with 4½ minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Thunder needed anything positive from Patterson in December, and he provided a block on Towns while Adams was out getting treatment on his right arm.

Until Sunday, Patterson hadn’t hit two or more 3-pointers in a game since Nov. 30. He had two in the first half on two attempts, breaking a slump of 10 games without multiple threes. In those 10 games between Patterson hitting three 3-pointers against the Hawks and Sunday’s fast start, Patterson was just 2-of-14 from 3-point range.

Ferguson out

Defending on the perimeter in the NBA is an unforgiving task. Ask Terrance Ferguson.

The second-year guard was visibly shaken up in the first quarter after taking multiple blows trying to work around punishing screens set by Minnesota’s 7-foot, 250-pound Towns. Ferguson was almost subbed out early for Dennis

Schroder in the first five minutes of the game, but shook off the sub from Donovan. He continued coughing throughout his eight-minute stint in the first quarter.

Ferguson went back to the locker room during the second quarter and was ruled out for the second half with what the Thunder called an illness.