Heavily undermanned Wolves post impressive win over West-leading Thunder

Minnesota put together one of its best victories of the season Thursday night.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards dunks over Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren in the first quarter at Target Center in Minneapolis on Feb. 13, 2025. / Bruce Kluckhohn / Imagn Images

Thursday night's game was the latter half of a back to back after an uninspiring performance the night before. The Minnesota Timberwolves were even more short-handed than they were the day prior as Rudy Gobert joined Mike Conley, Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle as ruled out due to injury. On top of that, they were up against the NBA's best team.

While that's not exactly a recipe for success, the Wolves nevertheless put together arguably their most impressive performance of the season in a 116-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center in Minneapolis.

The contrast from Wednesday night's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks was stark. The often slow-starting Wolves (31-25) scored the first four points of the contest, leading Thunder coach Mark Daigneault to burn a timeout early. That didn't slow down Minnesota's momentum. The Wolves took a 37-24 after an impressive first quarter that was highlighted by an Anthony Edwards dunk over Minneapolis native Chet Holmgren, and they carried that momentum the rest of the way.

"It was crazy because I was right there like close to the rim, and I always tell him I be waiting for him to go to the lane and dunk on somebody," said Terrence Shannon Jr., who stacked another impressive performance by posting a career-high 13 points, six rebounds and an assist in 29 minutes off the bench. "... That turn me up, for sure."

The Wolves did so much right Thursday night. They took care of the basketball, turning it over just 10 times. They moved the ball, assisting on 28 of 42 made shots. They started strong and didn't take the foot off the gas against the West's best.

"We needed this win, and against a really good team," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "Key to the game was taking care of the ball. We knew coming in if we take care of the ball, we have a chance to win."

Everyone did their part. Naz Reid scored a game-high 27 points and nearly posted a triple-double, also adding 13 rebounds and seven assists. Edwards did a bit of everything with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Jaden McDaniels made a big offensive impact with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker knocked down four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists. It was a true collective effort.

"I think everyone who came in really did something to impact winning," Finch said.

Jaylen Clark, who made his first career start in place of Gobert, did a tremendous job defensively on Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the first half. Gilgeous-Alexander shot just 2 for 13 in the first half, and while he finished with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, 11 of his points came from the free-throw line and he shot just 6 for 21.

Clark didn't get as much of a run after picking up his fourth foul early in the second half, but his impact early on made all the difference, though he did only shoot 1 for 6, finishing with four points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Shannon was the sixth man on the depleted Wolves roster Wednesday night and one-upped his performance from the night prior. He was active on both ends of the court and finished with a game-best plus-minus of plus-23. He was a critical spark plug. Luka Garza, who's struggled of late and nearly fallen out of the rotation entirely even in Randle's absence, put together his best defensive showing of the season in 15 minutes and put up eight points and eight rebounds.

It was a truly impressive performance all around, and not an expected one from an undermanned team against the West-leading Thunder. They'll head into the All-Star break on a high note after their most impressive showing of the season.