OKLAHOMA City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault showed a subtle grin when a reporter asked what he learned about his team Monday night (Tuesday in Manila).
Two nights earlier, the Thunder lost by 42 points on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, Oklahoma City bounced back in a big way, holding on for a 128-126 win in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals in Minneapolis.
The Thunder grabbed a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which will shift back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila).
“I learned nothing,” Daigneault said. “This team is easy to bet on. We had a very normal couple days leading into it, a very normal shoot around today. There’s just an internal sense that we were going to come out and it would be a much different game, tonally, and it was.
“So I didn’t learn anything about the resilience or the perseverance, but we’re still growing. These are all new experiences for us. . . Now it’s the first time we’ve been up 3-1 (this late in the season), and we have to handle that correctly.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished 10 assists as the Thunder moved within one victory of reaching the NBA finals. Jalen Williams added 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting, and Chet Holmgren finished with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting.
Gilgeous-Alexander sank 5 of 6 free-throw attempts in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.
“We did a good job of staying in the moment tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We obviously had a bad taste in our mouth from the last game, and we just wanted to control the things that we could control tonight. I think staying in the moment was the best way to do so.
“We could have been better tonight for sure. Tonight wasn’t perfect, but we gave ourselves a chance. . . and we got a W.”
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 23 points off the bench to lead Minnesota. Jaden McDaniels contributed 22 points, and Donte DiVincenzo finished with 21 points off the bench.
Alexander-Walker said there was no time for the Timberwolves to dwell on the loss. He quickly turned his focus to Game 5 and what he and his teammates could do to improve.
“Everything is out there,” Alexander-Walker said. “There’s no secrets. They know how to beat us. We know how to beat them. It’s just about going out there and doing it and who wants it more (and who is) trying to execute it more. We showed that at times throughout this game, but consistency, that’s all it has to be.”
Both teams battled in the final minutes as the Thunder staved off the Timberwolves’ comeback attempt.
Gilgeous-Alexander displayed his athleticism as he found Williams for a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 116-109 with 3:34 remaining. Gilgeous-Alexander was falling down on the play, and he slipped a pass between McDaniels’ legs to the open Williams.
The lead went back to seven when Williams hit another 3-pointer to put the Thunder on top 123-116 with 1:21 to go.
The Timberwolves clawed back thanks to McDaniels, who made a driving layup with 1:10 left and followed up with a 3-pointer with 23.1 seconds remaining. The latter hoop sliced the Thunder’s lead to 123-121.
Both teams exchanged free throws in the final seconds.
The Thunder led 128-125 when Anthony Edwards stepped to the free-throw line with 3.5 seconds left. Edwards made the first attempt and missed the second on purpose, but Gilgeous-Alexander chased down the rebound and fired a long pass out of bounds to stop the clock with 0.3 seconds to go.
Williams intercepted Julius Randle’s inbounds pass as time expired.
Oklahoma City led 90-85 at the end of the third quarter.
The Timberwolves went on an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to 77-76 with five minutes remaining in the third. DiVincenzo buried a 3-pointer from the left corner to punctuate the run.
