Historic stats, key takeaways from Wolves' shocking comeback win over OKC

The Timberwolves pulled off one of the most improbable victories of this NBA season on Monday.

Will Ragatz | Feb 25, 2025

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. / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves pulled off perhaps the most improbable victory of this entire NBA season on Monday night, coming back to stun the Thunder in a 131-128 overtime win. Playing on the road against the No. 1 team in the Western Conference, having just lost to the Thunder in Minneapolis the previous night, the Wolves rallied from a 25-point deficit in the second half and a 16-point margin with less than four minutes to play.

A day later, it's still hard to fathom how it happened.

Historical comeback

Here are a few stats that illustrate the rarity of what Minnesota pulled off in last night's game.

The 25-point comeback is tied for the biggest in Timberwolves history, matching a 25-point comeback against the Hornets in March 1996. The deficit in that game peaked early in the second quarter, whereas this one peaked midway through the third quarter.
Prior to this game, teams who trailed by at least 24 points in the fourth quarter had lost 1,552 consecutive games. The Wolves were down 106-82 early in the fourth...and snapped that streak.
NBA teams were 1-9,249 when trailing by at least 16 points with 3:45 or less remaining over the last 20 seasons. The one win came against the Timberwolves, who blew a 17-point lead over the Kings with less than three minutes remaining in January 2020.
This one has some qualifiers, but it's still fun: The Wolves are apparently the first team in NBA history to win a road game against a team with at least an .800 winning percentage when trailing by 20 or more entering the fourth quarter.

Key takeaways

We learned so much about the Wolves in this game. Remember, they pulled this off without three starters in Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, and Donte DiVincenzo. They also did it despite poor shooting nights from Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid (12 for 36 combined), who have been their top two scorers in recent weeks. Reid did have some huge buckets in the second half after a cold start. Edwards wasn't even on the court for the 16-0 run in the final 3:41, as he was dealing with some calf discomfort. He did end up returning to the game with 1:48 left in overtime, which led to this incredible addition to his career highlight reel:

BLOCKED BY ANTHONY EDWARDS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/mny4eUEksW
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 25, 2025

Let's get into four key takeaways from this comeback.

The Wolves' young guys are for real

The benefit of injuries to Randle, DiVincenzo, and Gobert is that we've gotten an extended look at several players who weren't in the rotation earlier this season — most notably the rookie trio of Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Jaylen Clark. The results on all three have been very promising.

Clark has had some great games recently, including on Sunday night prior to a neck injury. That injury didn't keep him out of Monday's game, but he was fairly quiet on offense in the rematch (5 points in 29 mins), though he continued to play admirable defense on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, especially on the final stop in regulation. Instead, this was a Dillingham and Shannon game in the second half. The Wolves' two first-round picks this year were among the catalysts of the shocking comeback.

Dillingham had 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists, scoring all of his points after halftime. It was a very encouraging performance from the 20-year-old guard, who played fewer than ten minutes in the two previous games and had scored in double figures just once in the last ten contests. Shannon had 11 points and 6 boards in the fourth quarter alone, finishing with 17 and 10 for the game. His ability to get to the rim and finish is special, and he came up with a couple key plays on defense as well.

Terrence Shannon Jr. at OKC:

17-10-1-1-2, 7/10 FG, +12, W pic.twitter.com/VWGYMyIz3T
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) February 25, 2025

The big picture takeaway is that the future is bright in Minnesota, with a 25-and-under core of Edwards, McDaniels, Reid, and these three rookies. Looking into the near future, there are going to be some difficult rotation decisions for Chris Finch when everyone is healthy. The Wolves have 11 players who deserve to play major minutes. That's a good problem to have, and it'll allow Finch to get creative with his lineups based on opponents and in-game momentum.

Jaden McDaniels continues to grow before our eyes

McDaniels has been playing the best basketball of his career for a while now, and he put together another gem of a performance on Monday night. He led with Wolves with 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting, hitting all nine of his free throws and adding 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. McDaniels came up with the game-tying and-one finish at the end of regulation and was outstanding for Minnesota all game long. Notably, he didn't attempt a single three-pointer among his 16 shots.

Jaden McDaniels fake + clutch driving layup through contact, WOW pic.twitter.com/iXe9wbAu6k
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) February 25, 2025

In his fifth season, McDaniels has fully taken the offensive leap that many have hoped to see from him for the last couple years. He's averaged 15.9 points and 7.6 rebounds on 51 percent shooting over the last 22 games, and he's scored at least 20 points in six of the last 11. McDaniels had a double-double in both ends of the back-to-back against OKC and now has six in the last 35 games after having zero in his first 330 career games (including playoffs). He needs to remain aggressive and involved offensively even when guys like Randle and DiVincenzo return to action.

Chris Finch coached a heck of a game

Because Finch is often a target of fan criticism after losses, it's only right that he should be praised for his coaching performance in Monday's game. He didn't pull the plug in the fourth quarter when he could've. He rode Dillingham's hot hand, keeping Mike Conley on the bench. And he made a crucial defensive adjustment, going to a zone against the Thunder and using McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to double Gilgeous-Alexander near halfcourt and get the ball out of his hands. SGA had just six points in the fourth quarter, and the trio of Jalen Williams, Aaron Wiggins, and Alex Caruso combined to miss 18 of their 21 shots in that period.

NAW might be hard to keep

It wouldn't be right to ignore Alexander-Walker's contributions in this game. He scored 21 points in 35 minutes off the bench, making 7 of his 12 shots and finishing with a team-best +23 mark. It was his third 20-point performance of the season, all of which have come in the last month. NAW has now scored at least 14 points in four consecutive games.

The result of Alexander-Walker's strong play is that he might be tough to keep in free agency this summer. He looks like a 3-and-D wing who could get $20 million or more per year on a new contract. Even if Randle opts out, the Wolves need to give Reid a big new contract and may or may not also have room to retain NAW. If Randle opts in and isn't traded, the math would make it extremely difficult for NAW to be back.

With that said, for as great as Alexander-Walker has been, it's possible that the recent emergence of Clark and Shannon will make it so the Wolves feel comfortable letting him walk in free agency, knowing they have cheaper replacements already on the roster.