Player grades from Timberwolves’ road win over the OKC Thunder

The Minnesota Timberwolves extended their winning streak to three games with a convincing road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Timberwolves completely dominate Oklahoma City Thunder on the road

On Wednesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves were bested in the paint and in transition and matched on the glass by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first matchup between the two teams this season. The Wolves scraped by with a win, but it wasn’t terribly pretty.

The first quarter of Friday night’s rematch was somewhat similar, although it was the defense that was sloppy for both teams this time around in a quarter that was won by the Wolves, 32-28.

Anthony Edwards dropped 17 points in the opening frame, including five made 3-pointers. But the Wolves’ defense was a step slow, and the Thunder nearly matched the Wolves’ offensive output.

Things began to shift in the second quarter, however, and the visitors began to pull away as their bench unit outplayed the Thunder reserves. Then, D’Angelo Russell took over, scoring 15 points and dishing out five assists in the second quarter alone.

Minnesota was up by 16 points at halftime, and after Karl-Anthony Towns was done with the Thunder to the tune of 10 points and five rebounds in the third quarter alone, the lead had ballooned to 23 heading to the fourth quarter.

The lead grew to as much as 41 at one point, but the Thunder won the elongated garbage time to make the final margin a less-embarrassing 30.

The Wolves played a well-rounded game, with Edwards, Russell, and Towns each controlling a quarter. After the first quarter, the Wolves’ defense was competitive, and Chris Finch’s crew ended up a +18 in points in the paint — which should have been expected against a relatively small Thunder lineup, but it didn’t exactly happen that way on Wednesday.

This was a solid win, and the Wolves have a real chance to extend the winning streak to four games as they head further south to take on the Houston Rockets on Sunday evening.

Player grades from Timberwolves’ road win over the OKC Thunder

Let’s take a look at a few player grades from another Timberwolves win.

Anthony Edwards: A+

24 points (9-16 FG, 6-9 3P), 7 assists, 6 rebounds, one steal, one block

Edwards had a phenomenal performance. After scoring 17 points and draining five 3-pointers in the first quarter, he continued to contribute in a variety of ways.

As the Thunder keyed in on Edwards, he adeptly passed to open teammates en route to seven assists while committing zero turnovers. It’s hard to picture Edwards playing a more complete game, and he only needed to play 29 minutes to do it.

D’Angelo Russell: A

27 points (11-12 FG, 4-5 3P, 1-1 FT), 12 assists, 2 steals, one rebound

Russell started quietly but scored 15 points and handed out five assists in the second quarter alone. He was extraordinarily efficient, shooting 11-of-12 from the field, including 7-of-7 on 2-point shots and only missing one 3-point attempt.

Russell committed three turnovers and only grabbed one rebound, but was otherwise amazing, picking his spots and doing damage when he had the opportunity.

Karl-Anthony Towns: B

19 points (7-11 FG, 0-2 3P, 5-6 FT), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, one steal, 4 turnovers

Towns had an effective if uneven performance. He scored 10 of his 19 points and grabbed five of his eight rebounds in the third quarter, as he used a hard foul to the face from OKC rookie Josh Giddey as motivation to take the game over and put the Thunder away for good.

Once again, two of Towns’ four turnovers were offensive fouls as he continues to struggle with avoiding such miscues. Still, he was good overall on offense despite not making any 3-pointers and was solid defensively as well.

Malik Beasley: D

5 points (2-9 FG, 1-7 3P), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal

Another night, another difficult showing from Beasley. Despite Patrick Beverley missing the game due to groin soreness, Beasley came off the bench and ceded the fill-in starting role to Jaden McDaniels.

Beasley never found a rhythm, and he continues a terrible string of shooting performances going back to before Christmas. It sure seems to only be a matter of time before Jaylen Nowell overtakes Beasley in the rotation.

The Wolves head to Houston to take on the Rockets on Sunday night in another winnable game.