Wolves go big to beat Thunder in play-in game, get 8th seed

MINNEAPOLIS(AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds to leadMinnesota into the playoffs, as the Timberwolves muscled andhustled their way past the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95 to finishthe play-in tournament on Friday night.

Rudy Goberthad 21 points and 10 rebounds in his return from exileforswinging at teammate Kyle Anderson, and the Wolves filled out theNBA playoff bracket by seizing the No. 8 seed in the WesternConference with a near-perfect performance at the end of anotherharder-than-it-had-to-be season.

AnthonyEdwards had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves, who had a58-30 advantage in points in the paint. They will face No. 1 seedDenver in a best-of-seven series starting on Sunday night.

ShaiGilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 22 points, going 12 for 12from the free throw line but just 5 for 19 from the field. JalenWilliams and Lu Dort each scored 17 points.

With theirbest defender Jaden McDaniels out with a broken hand — thanks to awall he punched out of frustration in the final regular-season gameshortly before Gobert took a swing at Anderson in an argumentduring a timeout — the Timberwolves put Nickiel Alexander-Walker inthe starting lineup to guard the dynamic Gilgeous-Alexander.They’re cousins, actually.

Gilgeous-Alexander was slow to get going in the Thunder’s play-intournament opener, too, before scoring 25 of his 32 points afterhalftime in the113-108winover New Orleans. This time, the NBA’s fourth-leadingscorer picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter andthen had to leave for treatment a few minutes later after Gobertaccidentally elbowed him in the eye as he rebounded and dunked hisown miss.

Towns had 24points on 8-for-12 shooting in Minnesota’s108-102overtime lossin Los Angeles in the first play-in game onTuesday, but he camped out on the perimeter too much down thestretch as the Wolves offense grinded to a woeful finish.

This time,the Wolves took a much better blend of outside and inside shotswith a constantly moving ball. They leaned hard on their advantagearound the basket, with the big men Towns and Gobert going to workagainst the smaller Thunder.

Gobert movedaround rather stiffly, listed as questionable with a back injurythat might have kept him out against the Lakers anyway to make histeam-imposed suspension moot. He wore a wrap around his midsectionwhen he was on the bench, but he found his groove in the secondhalf.

The Thundercame a long way from thelossof No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren, the 7-foot-1 Minneapolisnative who broke his foot in an offseason pro-am game, but they letthe Timberwolves pile up the highlights down the stretch.

RELEARNINGPROCESS

The Wolveswon three of four matchups with the Thunder, playing twice in thefirst five days of the season and twice more by Dec. 16. Towns wasout with an injury then. The three-team trade that jettisonedD’Angelo Russell from the Minnesota backcourt and brought in Conleyand Alexander-Walker was still two months from conception.

So was iteven worth reviewing the film from those games?

“We dobecause we’re paranoid, and what else are you going to do? Like,watch Netflix?” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “But it’sdifferent. They’re missing guys. We’re different. Both teams haveevolved since then.”

WITHHONORS

Daigneaultwas announced by the NBA as one ofthreefinalistsfor the Coach of the Year award.Gilgeous-Alexander (Most Improved Player) and Jalen Williams(Rookie of the Year) also landed on their respective lists. ScottBrooks (2010) is the only previous Coach of the Year winner thefranchise has had since it moved to Oklahoma City in 2008.

TIP-INS

Thunder: JoshGiddey went 2 for 13 from the floor.

Timberwolves:Edwards, who went 3 for 17 from the field against the Lakers, made8 of 19 shots. ... Walker-Alexander had 12 points.