The Minnesota Timberwolves were cruising at halftime. But as is often the story with a lopsided score, the team in the lead risks losing momentum. The Timberwolves absolutely relaxed, making poor decisions and lack of hustle, which paved the way back into the game for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
At one point, the Timberwolves were up by a score of 76-60. But the Wolves decided to take it easy, no longer making crisp passes, no longer taking good shots, and no longer boxing out and grabbing rebounds. All combined to let the Thunder put up a 14-0 run.
Even after the run was halted by a pair of free throws by Kyle Anderson, the Thunder resumed the pressure as the Thunder actually took a lead with 79-78 with 3:01 left in the quarter. With just 11 seconds to go in the third quarter, the Thunder had taken a five-point lead with a 27-5 run.
The Timberwolves are not done yet
The Timberwolves were not done just yet. Jaden McDaniels was fouled twice and sank all four of his free throws.
Then All-Star center Rudy Gobert took over. Down by two with three seconds left, Gobert stole the basketball with lightning-fast hands, drove down the court, and sank the game-tying basket.
Rudy Gobert has a double-double already scoring 16 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. But the complexion of this game has changed completely.
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads all scorers in this one with 24 points. While no Minnesota Timberwolves player has broken the 20-point plateau, all starters except Karl-Anthony Towns achieved double-digit scoring in this one after three quarters.
The Thunder bench has pulled ahead of the Timberwolve bench as well.
One concerning development that is emerging in this one is three-point shooting. The young Thunder roster after three quarters is shooting a bit better on the perimeter, hitting better than 31 percent from beyond the arc. The more veteran Timberwolves roster clearly has not shaken off their rust, as they have only hit on 25 percent of their threes.
One quarter remains.