The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to win a do-or-die game on the road, but they couldn’t accomplish that feat twice.
The Minnesota Timberwolves took home Friday’s play-in tournament game, 120-95, to clinch the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and eliminate OKC.
Minnesota had another shot at making the playoffs after its overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday (LA is the seventh seed): The Thunder ended the season of the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
It was a 10-point Timberwolves lead at the half, and when they went up 13 early in the third quarter, they also took Oklahoma City’s leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of the game temporarily.
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Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves talks with Anthony Edwards #1 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2023 Play-In Tournament on April 14, 2023 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AND (David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Grabbing his offensive rebound, Rudy Gobert’s elbow inadvertently struck his right hand in the face, and Gilgeious-Alexander lay on the ground for several minutes. He walked into the locker room with a trainer while he covered his face with ice and returned a few minutes later, but with a glare in his right eye.
Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves dunks the ball into an alley-oop as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder looks on in the second quarter of an NBA Play-In game at the Target Center on April 14, 2023. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (David Berding/Getty Images)
HEAT SURVIVES ANOTHER BULL RETURNS IN PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT TO WIN NO. 8 SEED IN THE NBA PLAYOFFS
The Thunder were able to cut a 16-point deficit to eight at one point in the third quarter, but Minnesota took off from there, pushing their lead to 17 just minutes later. That lead reached 29 with a dominant fourth quarter.
Six Wolves, including all five starters, had double-digit scores: Karl-Anthony Towns (28), Rudy Gobert (21), Anthony Edwards (19), Mike Conley (14), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (12) and Kyle Anderson. (eleven). Towns and Gobert also had 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively,
The game marked Gobert’s return from a team-imposed one-game suspension after he threw a punch at Anderson during a timeout: Gobert missed the first inning game.
Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates fouling the Oklahoma City Thunder with teammates Kyle Anderson #5 and Mike Conley #10 in the second quarter of the NBA Play-In game at Target Center on April 14, 2023, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (David Berding/Getty Images)
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In the final minutes, the Minnesota crowd chanted «We love Denver.» They got them.
It will be the top-seeded Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, led by back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic (who can win it for the third time in a row) in the first round of the NBA playoffs.