Washington (AFP) – NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a masterpiece performance to power Oklahoma City over Minnesota 128-126 on Monday, lifting the Thunder to the brink of the NBA Finals. Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff career-high 40 points and added 10 assists and nine rebounds to spark the Thunder, who took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals series with game five to come on Wednesday at Oklahoma City.
“You know how close you are but you’re still so far away,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Play to our identity on both ends of the floor. If we do that we’ll be just fine. If not, it could get ugly.” Jalen Williams added 34 points with 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range, and Chet Holmgren contributed 21 for the Thunder.
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“They were amazing,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “They were confident. They weren’t rattled by the moment…I’m nothing but proud of these two.” The Thunder have not reached the NBA Finals since losing to Miami in 2012, while the T-Wolves have never reached the championship series.
Reserves Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo sparked Minnesota with 23 and 21 points respectively, while Jaden McDaniels added 22. “Give their role guys credit,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “The shotmaking was ridiculous so for us to overcome that on the road the way we did was a great team win. We’re expecting their best punch in game five so we have to play hard again if we want to win.”
Minnesota star guard Anthony Edwards, tightly marshalled all night, managed only 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting. “Definitely not the points I wanted to get but they didn’t let me get too many shots off,” Edwards said. “I don’t look at it like I struggled. They just had a good game plan…I didn’t get enough shots to say I struggled.” The Timberwolves surrendered 21 turnovers and allowed the Thunder 19 offensive rebounds.
“They got 40 more possessions and we lost by two,” Edwards said. “We can work with that.” “You’re not going to beat a team like this if you are turning it over 20-plus times,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. Oklahoma City won the first two games at home, but host Minnesota delivered the worst playoff loss in Thunder history in game three.
“Had a bad taste in our mouths from the last game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We wanted to control the things we could control.” Finch said the T-Wolves can win the series but added, “This isn’t the formula to get it done. That’s the most important thing to take away from tonight.”
– ‘Brawl from the jump’ –
Both teams were physical and aggressive from the start, with Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams each scoring 13 points in the first quarter as the Thunder took a 37-30 lead. “It was just a brawl from the jump,” Daigneault said. “The first five to seven minutes of that game was unbelievably physical. The guys just battled up.”
Gilgeous-Alexander was 5-of-6 from the floor, while Williams was 5-of-8 and 3-of-5 from three-point range in the first quarter. “Shai was obviously brilliant. Chet was a monster,” Daigneault said. “Everybody who went into the game gave us a huge contribution.”
Gilgeous-Alexander had 21 points in the first half as Oklahoma City led 65-57 at half-time and 90-85 entering the fourth quarter. “I tried to lose myself in the game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Be aggressive, pick my spots and doing so really helped.”
McDaniels sank a left corner three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining to lift Minnesota within 123-121, but Gilgeous-Alexander converted two free throws. Gilgeous-Alexander answered a Gobert basket with another free throw, but Minnesota had a late chance. Naz Reid and Gilgeous-Alexander traded free throws for a 128-125 Thunder lead, and Edwards was fouled with 3.5 seconds remaining.
He made the first free throw, deliberately missed the second, but Gilgeous-Alexander got the rebound and threw the ball out of bounds with 0.3 of a second to play. A failed desperation inbounds play sealed Minnesota’s fate. “Definitely sucks being that close,” Alexander-Walker said. “Got to play like there’s no tomorrow because there isn’t.”
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