Oklahoma City Thunder @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Monday, May 26, 2025 at 8:30 PM ET
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN | Game ID: 42400314
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
MIN 30 27 28 41 126OKC 37 28 25 38 128
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Thunder bounce back to beat T-wolves 128-126 to take 3-1 lead behind SGA's 40-point game
MINNEAPOLIS -- — Being blown out the game before didn't sit well with Oklahoma City.
The young Thunder moved within one win of the NBA Finals with a championship response.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a steely performance befitting the NBA MVP and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped back from a 42-point loss by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-126 in Game 4 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.
“I tried not to worry too much about scoring or making plays or whatever it was,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I tried to just lose myself in the competition, be aggressive, pick my spots.”
Jalen Williams scored 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range, and Chet Holmgren added 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in a statement game in his hometown that helped the Thunder stave off several pushes by the Wolves to tie the series.
Gilgeous-Alexander went 12 for 14 from the free-throw line, making a pair with 6.1 seconds left to stretch the lead back to three. The Thunder fouled Anthony Edwards with 3.5 seconds to go, and his intentional miss of the second free throw to try to keep possession was tracked down in the corner by Gilgeous-Alexander and flung out of bounds to drain the clock.
The Wolves had one more desperation inbounds pass from half-court with 0.3 seconds remaining that Williams grabbed to send the Thunder back to Oklahoma City for a close-out Game 5 on Wednesday.
“They outplayed us, outrebounded us, got more of the 50-50 balls,” said Edwards, who was limited to 16 points. “Wanted it a little bit more.”
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (23 points) and Donte DiVincenzo (21 points) each went 5 for 8 from 3-point range to lead a second straight onslaught of bench offense to keep the Wolves close all night, but the Thunder always had an answer for the mini-runs they managed. They trailed for only 36 seconds, all stretches in the first quarter.
“Give their role guys credit," coach Mark Daigneault said. "The shot-making was ridiculous, so for us to overcome that on the road the way we did was a great team win.”
Any intrigue about how the Thunder would respond from Game 3 quickly disappeared when Williams started hitting from deep to lead an 11-for-17 shooting start from the floor. The Thunder grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, too.
The Thunder, for all their dominance, have shown a hint of vulnerability away from Paycom Center, where they’re 7-1 with a plus-191 scoring differential this postseason. But Luguentz Dort helped bottle up Edwards and Julius Randle (five points on 1-for-7 shooting), and the Thunder forced 23 turnovers to help offset those 64 bench points.
“Uphill battle," DiVincenzo said, "but everybody is sticking together, understanding that you try to look at this game and grab any sort of hope.”
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
MINAE A. Edwards
DD D. DiVincenzo
JM J. McDaniels
JR J. Randle
MC M. Conley
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
TS T. Shannon Jr.
OKCAC A. Caruso
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
IH I. Hartenstein
IJ I. Joe
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
MIN/OKC 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
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