Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves win season series over Thunder

The Timberwolves won for the third time in four games over the Oklahoma City Thunder this season, securing the tiebreaker with a fairly easy win on Wednesday night at Target Center.

If it comes down to it at the end of the season, the Timberwolves have already claimed the tiebreaker over the Thunder thanks to already winning three of the four games between the Northwest Division rivals.

The Wolves jumped out to a 12-2 lead in this one before the Thunder outplayed the home team for the rest of the first half. A Carmelo Anthony dunk just prior to the final horn of the second quarter tied the game at 47 and gave Oklahoma City a bit of momentum heading into the break.

But the third quarter belonged to the Wolves. The lead reached double-digits about halfway just through the frame and never dipped below seven for the rest of the night.

Jimmy Butler only had six points at halftime and injured his thumb in the second quarter, emerging from the locker room after halftime with a wrap on his hand. But he scored 20 points in the second half while doing much of his damage at the free throw line, where he made 11 of 12 attempts.

Nobody else on the Timberwolves had a particularly dominating night on offense, but the team defense was the story. The Thunder offense struggled to get going early, and Minnesota successfully kept anyone on OKC’s roster not named Russell Westbrook. Anthony shot just 5-of-19 and Paul George was 5-of-14; the Thunder’s Big Three were the only players on the team to reach double-digits.

The Thunder hung around until there were only a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, but it was never really close after the Wolves surged ahead in the third quarter.

Tweets of the Night

Key Takeaways

• Jeff Teague returned to the starting lineup after missing seven games with an MCL sprain. He was awful early in the game, missing a pair of free throws and ending up short on a couple of jumpers. But he seemed to get his legs underneath him late in the first half and ended with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting with four rebounds and three assists.
• The Wolves defense held another opponent under 100 points. That’s eight in a row.
• Butler had another near-triple-double. In addition to his 26 points on 13 field goal attempts, Jimmy Buckets pitched in eight assists, seven rebounds, four steals, and two blocks.
• Karl-Anthony Towns was awesome, especially on defense and on the glass. After Steven Adams had a remarkable shooting night against KAT in OKC back at the beginning of December, he tallied just eight points and eight rebounds while Towns had 18 and 12 while shooting 7-of-12 from the floor.
• In a strange twist, the only three Wolves players in double figures in the scoring column was Minnesota’s Big Three.

Player of the Game

Jimmy Butler: 26 points (7-13 FG, 1-2 3P, 11-12 FT), 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks

Butler was dominant again. After only shooting 3-of-6 in the first half and having just six points at halftime, he turned it on in the second half. While Westbrook scored 38 points with Butler mostly being the one tasked with guarding him, the rest of the Wolves’ team defense was able to slow down the rest of the Thunder, and Butler was able to combat his counterpart with a strong offensive game of his own.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Karl-Anthony Towns: 18 points (7-12 FG, 2-3 3P, 2-2 FT), 12 rebounds, 3 assists, one turnover
• Andrew Wiggins: 19 points (8-15 FG, 1-5 3P, 2-3 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal, one turnover
• Taj Gibson: 9 points (4-5 FG, 1-2 FT), 5 rebounds, one assist, 2 turnovers
• Jeff Teague: 8 points (3-6 FG, 1-3 3P, 1-4 FT), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, one block, 3 turnovers
• Jamal Crawford: 8 points (4-11 FG, 0-2 3P), 3 assists, 2 steals, one rebound

Next: Jimmy Butler is taking the NBA by storm

What’s Next?

The Timberwolves will look to continue what is a 3-0 homestand thus far on Friday night for a showdown with the New York Knicks. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. CT.