8. January 29 – at Oklahoma City Thunder (101-107)
Top Performance(s):
Anthony Edwards – 27 points
Karl-Anthony Towns – 21 points, 10 rebounds
Rudy Gobert – 12 points, 18 rebounds
While the first two games on this list were carried by individual performances, this game was quite the opposite. The Timberwolves came into this game having lost three of their last five—two of those losses came to bottom-five squads, and one came at home against the very same Thunder team. The Timberwolves grip on the number one seed appeared to be slipping. Adding to the pressure, starting point guard, Mike Conley Jr. was inactive due to injury.
The Timberwolves went into halftime with a lead, but Oklahoma City surged in the third quarter. Rather than folding under pressure as they had against the same squad just five games earlier, the Timberwolves rose to the occasion and outscored the Thunder by ten points in the final period.
Despite being down as late as two and a half minutes left in the game, the Timberwolves won by six thanks to some timely buckets from Jaden McDaniels including a go-ahead corner three and a tipped put-back over multiple defenders.
This game helped restabilize the Timberwolves at a time when they sorely needed it. It also helped prove that the Wolves could win against good teams, even without their savvy veteran point guard in the lineup.