Timberwolves walk over Thunder 120-95 to advance to playoffs and first-round matchup with Nuggets
Timberwolves overrun Thunder 120-95 to advance to the first round of the playoffs with the Nuggets, as Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert returns from his one-game suspension for shoving teammate Kyle Anderson
- All five Timberwolves starters scored in double digits in the carnage
- Minnesota will play the Denver Nuggets in the first round of this year’s playoffs
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Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota to the playoffs as the Timberwolves worked their way past the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95 to complete the play-in tournament on Friday night.
Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 10 rebounds in his return from exile for swinging to teammate Kyle Anderson, and the Wolves completed the NBA playoff round by grabbing the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference with a near-perfect performance to the end of another tougher than it needed to be season.
Anthony Edwards had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves, who held a 58-30 points lead in the paint.
They will take on No. 1 seed Denver on Sunday night in a best-of-seven series.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 22 points, 12 for 12 from the free throw line but only 5 for 19 from the field. Jalen Williams and Lu Dort scored 17 points each.
The Minnesota Timberwolves advanced to the playoffs and face the Denver Nuggets at Sun.
Rudy Gobert had a doble-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds on his return from suspension
With their top defenseman Jaden McDaniels out with a broken hand – thanks to a wall he hit in frustration in the final regular season game shortly before Gobert lunged at Anderson in a timeout altercation – the Timberwolves put down Nickiel Alexander-Walker in the starting lineup to guard the dynamic Gilgeous-Alexander. They are actually cousins.
Gilgeous-Alexander also got off to a slow start in the opener of the Thunder’s play-in tournament, before scoring 25 of his 32 points after halftime in the 113-108 victory over New Orleans.
This time, the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer got his fourth foul early in the third quarter and had to leave for treatment a few minutes later after Gobert accidentally hit him in the eye as he rebounded and dunked his own miss.
Towns had 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting in Minnesota’s 108-102 overtime loss to Los Angeles in Tuesday’s first play-in game, but he camped too much on the perimeter as Wolves’ offense deteriorated to a woeful finish .
This time around, the Wolves took a much better mix of outside and inside shots with a constantly moving ball.
They leaned hard to their advantage around the basket, with the big guys Towns and Gobert taking on the smaller Thunder.
Gobert moved around rather stiffly, listed as doubtful with a back injury that could have kept him against the Lakers to question his team-imposed suspension. He wore a wrap around his waist when he was on the bench, but he found his feet in the second half.
The Thunder have come a long way from losing No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren, the 7-foot-1 Minneapolis native who broke his foot in an off-season pro-am game, but they let the Timberwolves take the highlights pile up along the route.
Anthony Edwards also recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win