That was a statement win from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Playing for the fourth time in five nights because of a postponement last weekend, the Wolves came out of the gates with all kinds of energy and never trailed for a second in a 123-111 win over the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder. Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Naz Reid combined for 65 points on a night where Minnesota tied its season high with 22 three-pointers (13 of which came from that trio).
It’s just the 11th loss of the season for the Thunder (38-11). Two of those have come in nationally-televised games at Target Center against the Timberwolves (30-19), who are back up to the fifth seed in the Western Conference.
Here are three takeaways from Minnesota’s victory.
Red hot three-point shooting
This win for the Wolves was driven by their three-point marksmanship. They were red hot from long range from the jump, with their first four baskets coming via two threes apiece from Edwards and McDaniels. The Wolves went 8 of 15 from three in the opening quarter and never looked back. Minnesota finished with a season-high-tying 22 threes (a mark they also hit in a win over the Bucks this month). It’s just the second time all season the Thunder have allowed more than 20 threes in a game.
This was a group effort from the Timberwolves from beyond the arc. McDaniels made all five threes he took, tying his career-high for long-distance makes. Edwards and Reid each hit four of them. Bones Hyland and Donte DiVincenzo hit three each. Julius Randle and Jaylen Clark also hit at least one. The ball was moving for the Wolves, who generated all kinds of open looks from deep.
The most impressive performance came from McDaniels, who has been ridiculously good from three this season. He came into the day shooting 42.2 percent from deep and raised that number to 44 percent over the course of the evening. He had 21 points on the day, trailing only Edwards’ 26 among Timberwolves players.
Turning defense into offense was big
Another thing the Wolves did very well was compete on the defensive end and then turn their defense into easy buckets on the other end. Despite playing their fourth game in five nights, they were the aggressor in this one and made Oklahoma City work for everything it got on offense.
Anthony Edwards | Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
The Wolves scored 30 points off of 16 OKC turnovers and won 23-13 in fast break points. They swarmed the ball on defense and were able to get out and run once they secured it.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got his usual 30 points, but he was a -22 and had 5 turnovers to go with his 8 assists. No one else on the Thunder scored more than 15, although it’s worth noting that they were without three rotation pieces in Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, and Ajay Mitchell due to injury.
The Wolves have a championship ceiling
This was a win from Minnesota that reaffirmed its status as legitimate championship contenders. Sure, the Thunder were missing a few players and the Wolves had the benefit of playing at home. At the same time, the Wolves could’ve easily used the excuse of playing four games in five nights for the first time since 2017 — which the NBA no longer allows on the schedule.
Instead, they came out and appeared to take this matchup personally. It’s their second straight win over a Thunder team that beat them in last year’s conference finals and has been dominant all season. When the Wolves are playing like this, they’re awfully hard to beat. They aren’t going to make 22 threes every night, but what can translate is the level of intensity on the defensive end and ball movement on the offensive side.
With some sort of addition to the backcourt expected before next week’s trade deadline, this Timberwolves team will have a chance to get over the hump in 2026.
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