Westbrook has 24 points and 15 assists as Thunder beat Timberwolves 126-123
Russell Westbrook had 24 points and 15 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder went on a 20-6 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-123.
The Timberwolves led 94-88 with 34 seconds left in the third quarter. Enes Freedom’s 2 free throws put the Thunder ahead for good with 6:59 left in the fourth quarter. He scored 8 points during the run, and they led 108-100 with 4:59 left.
The Timberwolves got within 113-111 on Zach LaVine’s 22-foot jumper with 1:59 to play, but Kevin Durant answered with a pull-up 3-pointer.
Durant’s 2 free throws with 11.8 seconds left made it 124-118 and put it away.
During clutch time, the Thunder outscored the Timberwolves 13-6. Durant (No. 4 in clutch points, 2015-16) scored 7 of the Thunder’s 13 on 2 for 3 shooting and 2 for 2 at the line.
Durant had 27 points and 9 rebounds, and Freedom added 23 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. The Thunder had 3 20-point scorers.
For the Timberwolves, LaVine scored a season-high 35 points on 14 for 17 shooting off the bench, and Gorgui Dieng added a season-high 21 points (16 in the paint) and 9 rebounds on 10 for 13 shooting. Andrew Wiggins scored 20 points (14 in the paint). LaVine scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves had 3 20-point scorers.
The Thunder went 20 for 21 at the line to the Timberwolves’ 18 for 28. The Timberwolves gave up 15 offensive rebounds, about 6 more than usual for the shots the Thunder missed.