Game ID: 42400313
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM ET
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
MIN 34 38 35 36 143OKC 14 27 29 31 101
MIN vs OKC ScoutingMIN vs OKC Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
MIN availability going into 5/12 · 1 day's restOUT Dillingham missed 9 since 4/13, out tonight
BACK Clark back 5/08 after 5, 3 min since (28% of 12)
MIN availability going into 5/14 · 1 day's restOUT Clark missed 2 since 5/10, out tonight
OUT Dillingham missed 10 since 4/13, out tonight
MIN availability going into 5/20 · 5 days' restOUT Clark missed 3 since 5/10, returns tonight: 6 min (52% of 12)
OUT Dillingham missed 11 since 4/13, returns tonight: 2 min (20% of 10)
NEW McDaniels 32 to 39 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 5/22 · 1 day's restBACK Clark back 5/08 after 5, 5 min since (40% of 12)
BACK Dillingham back 5/20 after 11, 2 min since (20% of 10)
NEW Randle 33 to 38 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 5/24 · 1 day's restBACK Clark back 5/20 after 3, 6 min since (52% of 12)
BACK Dillingham back 5/20 after 11, 2 min since (20% of 10)
NEW Randle 33 to 38 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 5/26 · 1 day's restBACK Clark back 5/20 after 3, 8 min since (63% of 12)
BACK Dillingham back 5/20 after 11, 5 min since (48% of 10)
MIN availability going into 5/28 · 1 day's restBACK Clark back 5/20 after 3, 8 min since (63% of 12)
BACK Dillingham back 5/20 after 11, 5 min since (48% of 10)
OKC availability going into 5/15 · 1 day's restOUT K. Williams missed 3 since 5/09, out tonight
OUT Mitchell missed 3 since 5/09, returns tonight: 1 min (5% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/18 · 2 days' restOUT K. Williams missed 4 since 5/09, returns tonight: 8 min (52% of 15)
BACK Mitchell back 5/07 after 2, 7 min since (49% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/20 · 1 day's restBACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 8 min since (52% of 15)
BACK Mitchell back 5/15 after 3, 4 min since (30% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/22 · 1 day's restBACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 9 min since (58% of 15)
BACK Mitchell back 5/15 after 3, 3 min since (24% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/24 · 1 day's restOUT Jay. Williams missed 2 since 5/20, returns tonight: 17 min (120% of 14)
BACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 6 min since (42% of 15)
BACK Mitchell back 5/15 after 3, 3 min since (24% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/26 · 1 day's restBACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 8 min since (55% of 15)
BACK Jay. Williams back 5/24 after 2, 17 min since (120% of 14)
BACK Mitchell back 5/15 after 3, 7 min since (52% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/28 · 1 day's restBACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 9 min since (61% of 15)
BACK Jay. Williams back 5/24 after 2, 9 min since (60% of 14)
OKC availability going into 6/05 · 7 days' restBACK Jay. Williams back 5/24 after 2, 8 min since (52% of 14)
OKC availability going into 6/08 · 2 days' restBACK Jay. Williams back 5/24 after 2, 8 min since (52% of 14)
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 110, shooting 46 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Edwards at 28 and Randle at 24 a game. One day's rest. OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 102, shooting 49 percent and 34 from three, 23 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 33 and Jal. Williams at 19 a game. That is 3 straight wins. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, on the road, and the game turns on the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 18 times a game to OKC's 10 and the defense, OKC allowing 102 a night to Minnesota's 110. Call it OKC 112, Minnesota 108, Minnesota keeping it close.
5/12 @ GSW 117-110 — MIN notes
MIN won 117-110. MIN shot 49% (39 of 79) to GSW's 44%, 16 of 34 from three, and got to the line 26 times to GSW's 33. Randle led with 31 (11 of 21, 4 of 8 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Edwards added 30, Alexander-Walker 13. The hinge was Q3, 39-17: MIN came in trailing by 2 and left it ahead by 20. MIN trailed 58-60 at the half and won the second half 59-50. Conley was the night's best plus/minus at +17.
5/14 vs GSW 121-110 — MIN notes
MIN won 121-110. MIN shot 63% (49 of 78) to GSW's 43%, 13 of 31 from three, and got to the line 15 times to GSW's 30. Randle led with 29 (13 of 18, 2 of 6 from three); Edwards added 22, Gobert 17. The hinge was Q2, 32-24: a lead of 7 became 15, and the lead reached 25. Gobert was the night's best plus/minus at +21.
5/20 @ OKC 88-114 — MIN notes
MIN lost 88-114. MIN shot 35% (29 of 83) to OKC's 50%, 15 of 51 from three. MIN turned it over 17 times to OKC's 12, and OKC turned those into 13 steals. Randle led with 28 (9 of 13, 5 of 6 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Edwards added 18. Q1 was theirs, 23-20, but the other 3 periods went 94-65 against them. Edwards's -23 in 37 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/22 @ OKC 103-118 — MIN notes
MIN lost 103-118. MIN shot 41% (36 of 87) to OKC's 50%, 11 of 39 from three. MIN turned it over 14 times to OKC's 6, and OKC turned those into 9 steals. Edwards led with 32 (12 of 26, 1 of 9 from three, 7 of 10 at the line); McDaniels added 22, Alexander-Walker 17. Q4 was theirs, 32-25, the deficit cut from 22 to 15, but the other 3 periods went 93-71 against them. DiVincenzo's -27 in 22 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/24 vs OKC 143-101 — MIN notes
MIN won 143-101. MIN shot 57% (55 of 96) to OKC's 41%, 20 of 40 from three. The glass went 50-31 for them. Edwards led with 30 (12 of 17, 5 of 8 from three); Randle added 24, Shannon Jr. 15. The hinge was Q1, 34-14: from level to 20 ahead, and the lead reached 45. Randle was the night's best plus/minus at +38.
5/26 vs OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 21 free throws a game; Edwards at 26 and Randle at 24 a game. One day's rest. OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 32 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 30 and Jal. Williams at 18 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-3 a night and OKC minus-6 and the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 10. Call it Minnesota 113, OKC 112, OKC keeping it close.
5/28 @ OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 23 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 32 and Jal. Williams at 23 a game. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 114, shooting 50 percent and 38 from three, 21 free throws a game; Edwards at 24 and Randle at 18 a game. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-4 a night and OKC minus-4 and the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 11. Call it OKC 116, Minnesota 111.
5/15 @ DEN 107-119 — OKC notes
OKC lost 107-119. OKC shot 47% (43 of 92) to DEN's 47%, 11 of 40 from three, and got to the line 16 times to DEN's 32. The glass went 40-52 against them. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 32 (11 of 16, 2 of 4 from three, 8 of 11 at the line); Holmgren added 19, Caruso 10. Q2 was theirs, 33-27, turning a 3-point deficit into a 3-point lead, but the other 3 periods went 92-74 against them. They led by as many as 12. Dort's -18 in 21 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/18 vs DEN 125-93 — OKC notes
OKC won 125-93. OKC shot 49% (47 of 96) to DEN's 39%, 12 of 39 from three. OKC turned it over 9 times to DEN's 22. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 35 (12 of 19, 3 of 4 from three, 8 of 9 at the line); Jal. Williams added 24, Holmgren 13. The hinge was Q2, 39-20: OKC came in trailing by 5 and left it ahead by 14, and the lead reached 43. Caruso was the night's best plus/minus at +40.
5/20 vs MIN 114-88 — OKC notes
OKC won 114-88. OKC shot 50% (41 of 82) to MIN's 35%, 11 of 21 from three. OKC turned it over 12 times to MIN's 17. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 31 (10 of 27, 0 of 4 from three, 11 of 14 at the line); Jal. Williams added 19, Holmgren 15. The hinge was Q4, 38-22: a lead of 10 became 26. OKC trailed 44-48 at the half and won the second half 70-40. Gilgeous-Alexander was the night's best plus/minus at +22.
5/22 vs MIN 118-103 — OKC notes
OKC won 118-103. OKC shot 50% (45 of 90) to MIN's 41%, 9 of 33 from three. OKC turned it over 6 times to MIN's 14. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 38 (12 of 21, 13 of 15 at the line); Jal. Williams added 26, Holmgren 22. The hinge was Q3, 35-21: a lead of 8 became 22. Dort was the night's best plus/minus at +29.
5/24 @ MIN 101-143 — OKC notes
OKC lost 101-143. OKC shot 41% (35 of 86) to MIN's 57%, 14 of 44 from three. The glass went 31-50 against them. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 14 (4 of 13, 2 of 5 from three); Mitchell added 14, Jal. Williams 13. Q4 was theirs, 31-36, but the other 3 periods went 107-70 against them. Gilgeous-Alexander's -32 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/26 @ MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 21 free throws a game; Edwards at 26 and Randle at 24 a game. One day's rest. OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 32 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 30 and Jal. Williams at 18 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-3 a night and OKC minus-6 and the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 10. Call it Minnesota 113, OKC 112, OKC keeping it close.
5/28 vs MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 23 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 32 and Jal. Williams at 23 a game. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 114, shooting 50 percent and 38 from three, 21 free throws a game; Edwards at 24 and Randle at 18 a game. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-4 a night and OKC minus-4 and the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 11. Call it OKC 116, Minnesota 111.
6/05 vs IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 31 and Jal. Williams at 22 a game. 7 days' rest. Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 27 free throws a game; Siakam at 26 and Haliburton at 19 a game. It has lost the glass by 5 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (92 straight). 4 days' rest.
So: OKC wins, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it OKC 117, Indiana 111.
6/08 vs IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 115, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 33 and Jal. Williams at 22 a game. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. 2 days' rest. Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 40 from three, 27 free throws a game; Siakam at 22 and Haliburton at 19 a game. Without Isa. Jackson (93 straight). 2 days' rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the turnovers, Indiana giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 11 and the glass, where Indiana has been minus-1 a night and OKC minus-7. Call it OKC 117, Indiana 112.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
OKCAC A. Caruso
AM A. Mitchell
AW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
DJ D. Jones
IH I. Hartenstein
IJ I. Joe
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
JW Jay. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
OD O. Dieng
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
MINAE A. Edwards
DD D. DiVincenzo
JC J. Clark
JM J. McDaniels
JM J. Minott
JR J. Randle
LG L. Garza
LM L. Miller
MC M. Conley
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RD R. Dillingham
RG R. Gobert
TS T. Shannon Jr.
OKC/MIN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Anthony Edwards and the Wolves strike back with 143-101 win to cut Thunder's West finals lead to 2-1
MINNEAPOLIS -- — Anthony Edwards was determined to keep Minnesota's spirits up, from the flight home after a frustrating trip to Oklahoma City into a crucial game in these Western Conference finals.
Positive energy is never hard for him to find.
Edwards had 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists in just three quarters for the Timberwolves in a 143-101 victory on Saturday night in Game 3 that cut the Thunder's lead in the series to 2-1.
“Just ultimate pressure on the ball,” Edwards said, “and shoot it as much as I can.”
Julius Randle added 24 points and rookie Terrence Shannon Jr . had 15 points in 13 minutes to highlight a big boost from the bench for the Wolves, who caused all kinds of cracks in the Thunder's NBA -best defense after struggling to solve it in the two lopsided losses on the road.
“Their force on that end of the floor was better than our physicality and pressure, things that we typically do well," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had just 14 points on 4-for-13 shooting with four turnovers, subbed out with a 38-point deficit and 4:25 to go in the third quarter as Daigneault conceded on a night when his team was never closer than 22 points after early in the second quarter.
“It felt like we just eased into the game, and they didn’t,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They blitzed us pretty early, and then we were never able to get back because of it.”
Game 4 is in Minneapolis on Monday night.
The travel north and venue shift triggered a sharp drop in shooting for the Thunder, who made exactly half of their attempts from the floor over the first two games and went just 12 for 40 in the first half on Saturday.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the newly minted NBA MVP , went more than 13 minutes of game time between baskets while the Target Center crowd loudly booed him on every touch and taunted him at the line with the chant, “Free throw merchant!” in a nod to the popular notion he draws an inordinate amount of fouls.
Randle, who had his first off night of this postseason in a Game 2 performance so disjointed he was benched for the fourth quarter, had his fire back — and his signature fadeaway.
Edwards rediscovered his 3-point shot, going 5 for 8 after shooting just 1 of 9 in Game 2. He gave the quick-handed, ball-pressuring Thunder a taste of what it’s like to play against themselves with a couple of relentless pursuits of loose balls he turned into breakaway dunks.
Outscored 69-37 in the third quarter over the first two games, the Wolves made sure to avoid another post-halftime malaise. Edwards, tightly guarded by Isaiah Joe in the corner, found enough space to drive along the baseline and spin an up-and-under reverse layup off the glass for a 79-52 lead.
“That’s what we need him to do, and when he does it, it takes us to another level,” coach Chris Finch said.