By Canadian Press on May 26, 2025.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Canadian 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 on Saturday by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-126 in Game 4 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.
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 one to try to keep possession was tracked down in the corner by Gilgeous-Alexander and flung out of bounds in attempt to drain the clock.
The Wolves had one more in-bounds pass with 0.3 seconds remaining that Williams grabbed to send the Thunder back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Wednesday with the chance to advance to the NBA Finals.
Luguentz Dort of Montreal had four point and four rebounds in 30 minutes of action for the Thunder.
Edwards was limited to 16 points, and Julius Randle (five points on 1-for-7 shooting) was also bottled up by the Thunder’s relentless defence.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Toronto led the Timberwolves with 23 points and six assists.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Dave Campbell, The Associated Press