SGA, Williams lead OKC in rout of West-leading Timberwolves
Mark Daigneault often relies on patience.
The Oklahoma City Thunder coach admitted a couple of tedious activities test him: waiting in traffic and shaving.
But in the comfortable atmosphere of a basketball arena, he doesn’t mind staying patient. That virtue is rewarding his young, surging Oklahoma City squad as it learns to contend with the best of the NBA, and it showed in the Thunder’s rematch with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
OKC toppled the Timberwolves, 129106, making a statement with a decisive win over the top team in the Western Conference on Tuesday night at Paycom Center.
Only 28 days after concluding inseason tournament play with a 106-103 road loss to Minnesota, the Thunder (19-9) had another chance at the Timberwolves and clicked.
“We played together on both ends of the floor for the most part of the night,” said Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, who led Oklahoma City with 34 points. “When we do that and trust that, things go our way, usually.”
Gilgeous-Alexander also reached team highs of six rebounds and nine assists. Jalen Williams dazzled with 21 points. An efficient Luguentz Dort racked up 20 points on 7-for-9 fieldgoal shooting, and Chet Holmgren chipped in 20 as well.
The Thunder shot 60.5% from the field, refusing to let Minnesota’s towering height serve as a defensive roadblock.
In the days between matchups with Minnesota (22-7), as autumn turned to winter, the Thunder had time to grow and learn how to handle opponents that clearly outsized them.
They narrowly slipped past the Denver Nuggets.
They toiled against the Los Angeles Lakers on a night when LeBron James was on fire.
Although OKC didn’t win that matchup, it served as a monumental test. Daigneault said it in his pregame news conference: if the Thunder can’t win with size, then they have the advantage of speed.
OKC’s superstar scorer agreed. “With a (Minnesota) team that big, you have to play fast,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You have to move the ball. You have to make them work. There’s upsides and downsides, but we used the upsides to our advantage, for sure, tonight.”
With 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert and 7-foot Karl-Anthony Towns in their starting lineup, the Timberwolves created some tough matchups for the Thunder. But the Thunder craftily handled Minnesota’s tree-like presence, creating offensive looks in a variety of ways.
Gilgeous-Alexander threaded between defenders and drove to the basket. Holmgren, the Thunder’s tallest player at 7-foot-1, ventured out of the paint to hit back-to-back 3-pointers.
And Minnesota’s zone, which rattled the Thunder in their Nov. 28 meeting, didn’t throw OKC’s offense off balance this time.
OKC also settled in defensively, holding Minnesota to 46.6% field-goal shooting. The Timberwolves had a hot start, going 65% from the field in the first quarter, but the Thunder took control and forced 24 turnovers.
Anthony Edwards led the Wolves with 25 points.
“Teams approach you differently, and you’ve gotta constantly be keeping up with that and evolving with that,” Daigneault said before the game. “And this particular (Thunder) team does a great job of learning, looking clear-eyed at things without emotion and hopefully improving through all the different experiences.”
Dort energizes Paycom Center
Lu Dort splashed a 3-pointer that cranked up the volume in the Paycom Center crowd.
He had been in his groove from 3point range throughout the game, and this one extended the Thunder’s lead to 98-83 with 2:27 left in the third quarter.
“It’s always fun when we get it going, and the whole team is just turned up,” Dort said. “It was a good one.”
Dort, a fan favorite for his stout defense, showed he could energize the Thunder faithful with his offensive efficiency, too. He thrived beyond the arc, making 5 of 6 attempts.
But this success hasn’t come easily. No one has embodied the Thunder’s patient approach more than Dort, who has emerged from a scoring slump to average 15 points through his past six games, including his 20-point showing against the Wolves. He said he hasn’t tried to force anything, instead letting the game come to him.
“Offensively, it can’t be understated how important I think it’s been for him to have a very consistent diet of shots this year,” Daigneault said. “And he’s weathered a cold streak. He was really good early, and then he didn’t make some shots for a little while.
“He just stayed with it, and it kind of worked out of him. And now, he’s firing shots again. So the consistency of the approach despite the variance of the shooting, I think, is a good lesson for everybody, but certainly a good reward for him.”
Jalen Williams, Josh Giddey are healthy
Heading into Tuesday, the statuses of Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey were a bit of a mystery.
Williams was dealing with illness, while Giddey missed Saturday’s loss to the Lakers with a left ankle sprain.
But both started against the Timberwolves. Giddey added 10 points and seven assists, and Williams gave the Thunder a massive spark. He opened the game 4-for-4 from the field and 3for-3 from the free-throw line.
Williams finished with 21 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field. He also took care of a tall defensive task: guarding Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 16 points and five turnovers.
“I just have a lot of help behind me, so it allows me kind of crawl under the ball and make it uncomfortable,” Williams said. “So it’s more credit to the other four that are on the floor.
“When you have good players like (Towns), whenever they see a crowd or know that somebody else is going to help, it makes it more difficult for them to kind of choose their spots. I thought we did a good job of just rotating, throwing different looks at him, doubling him randomly.”
Thunder tip-ins
h After not playing for two consecutive games, Vasilije Micic spent 15:59 on the floor against the Timberwolves. He totaled four assists, two steals and two points.
h The Timberwolves outrebounded the Thunder 34-29, but OKC kept up with Minnesota in defensive rebounds. Each team had 26 defensive boards.
h Kenrich Williams had a solid game. He went 2 for 3 from 3-point range and added three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
h The Thunder have a quick turnaround with a matchup against the New York Knicks slated for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Paycom Center.