Three Takeaways From OKC Thunder's Blown Lead Against Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves earned a 41-19 advantage in the fourth quarter, helping them surpass the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Feb 24, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (00) reacts after a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Though it looked like the Oklahoma City Thunder had back-to-back wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves locked on Monday night, a 41-19 advantage in the fourth quarter allowed the Timberwolves to notch a huge comeback 131-128 win.

Things quickly went downhill for the Thunder in those final 12 minutes, despite some strong performances from a couple of its starters and knocking down a total of 15 3-pointers as a collective unit. It marks Oklahoma City's first loss since the All-Star break ended.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stuffed the stat sheet with a near triple-double of 39 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, but the numbers were neutralized with a game-saving block from Anthony Edwards in overtime.

This was the Thunder's first overtime game of the entire season — a staggering stat that shows just how dominant it has been in regulation, even if it failed to win the period.

Here are three takeaways from the 3-point loss:

No Centers?

Given the back-to-back nature of the game, it was no surprise that Chet Holmgren was out of action for last night's game.

The center is still getting comfortable since his return from injury, so throwing him in the frenzy isn't worth doing it quite ready. Isaiah Hartenstein is typically OK to fill in for his production, but a facial contusion and a bloody nose kept him at just 16 minutes.

Hartenstein finished with four points, five rebounds, two assists and a block on just 1-of-4 shooting. Without his presence for most of the game, Oklahoma City was left stranded inside the paint and struggled to defend the rim, allowing 62 points in the paint for Minnesota.

When Holmgren nor Hartenstein are in the game, it's a struggle for the Thunder. The interior defense falls off by a significant margin, as well as its ability to rebound. Four players finished in double-digits with rebounds for the Timberwolves — Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid, Jaden McDaniels and Terrence Shannon Jr.

A Troubling Fourth Quarter

Oklahoma City entered the fourth quarter up 102-80 and exited it tied at 121-121. These 12 minutes tell nearly the entire story of the game in itself.

The sharpness of the Thunder defense, as well as its offensive scoring, fell off a cliff in the fourth. A gap opened up that Minnesota was able to take advantage of, as the likes of McDaniels and Reid made big shots down the stretch.

The comeback was so sudden that it was as if Oklahoma City "stopped playing" — as Jalen Williams alluded to at first after the game. However, a simpler and truer reason crept into his mind.

"If you want a very simple answer, I mean, we're up 25 in a game where we feel like the game is kinda over with," Williams said. "And I think stop playing is probably not a good way to say it. I think our intensity dropped.”

Sometimes overconfidence kills teams — especially when playing for the second-straight day — and the Thunder got a taste of that with the loss. More often than not, it has been on the other end of a comeback on several occasions during the season, this was just a rare time where it didn't go its way.

Everything's Alright

There's no question about it — last night was a tough one for Oklahoma City. To lose in the manner that it did, on top of leading for all but one quarter, made for one of its worst losses this season.

The Thunder hasn't been used to this feeling. Once the Timberwolves got the ball moving, it didn't seem equipped to fend off the attack and instead took its foot off the gas. There's no doubt that this loss will sting for the time being.

"A lot of these lessons are about taking accountability, and we didn't play well enough to win the game," Williams said. "They basically stole a game and earned it. That's something that now this will stick out in our mind."

It's fine for Oklahoma City to undergo something like this on ocassion. The playoffs are going to be a whole different game, and having the experience to blow a lead like this can help prepare it to avoid it from happening again. If it does this in a seven-game series, that could prove much more costly.

Ultimately, this loss isn't anything to come away with too much of a drastic opinion on. It happens, it's just the Thunder's job to prevent it from happeing again.

"I don't know if I'd go back in time and change what happened," Williams said. "I think it's kind of good that this happened to us just from a perspective of being able to learn from it."

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