Three Takeaways from the OKC Thunder's Seven-Point Win Over the Minnesota Timberwolves

Oklahoma City was able to capture its 46th win on the year on Sunday night versus the Minnesota Timberwolves in a nationally televised contest.

Behind a 37-point outing from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder managed a 130-123 victory while shooting the ball mastefully from beyond the arc. Despite both Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren logging 25-plus minutes apiece, the Thunder lost the rebound battle but still pulled out a victory.

Anthony Edwards' 29 points backed by Naz Reid's 22 points wasn't quite enough to curb Oklahoma City's efforts, even in front of their home crowd.

Let's take a look at three key points from Sunday night's game:

OKC Avenges Pre-Break Loss

One takeaway from this game comes in the form of Oklahoma City readjusting and coming out on top versus a team who gave them trouble less than two weeks ago. Losing 116-101 on the road on Feb. 13, the Thunder went into the NBA All-Star break with a loss on its mind.

27 points from Reid in that bout bogged the Thunder down while the team only shot 24.1% from 3-point distance, leaving Oklahoma City to take its 10th loss on the year.

Now, with one win under its belt over the Utah Jazz a couple nights prior, the Thunder came out swinging to take the series lead over Minnesota at 2-1 thus far, defeating the Timberwolves with a 3-point barrage and a dominant performance from Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander Sets the Tone, Thunders Follow

Gilgeous-Alexander's 37 points came off of 13-of-24 makes from the field and 8-of-11 makes from the charity stripe.

Three of those field goals came from beyond the arc on six attempts, setting a 50% shooting tone from that area which ultimately helped lead the Thunder to a 54.3% shooting night from 3-point land in this one.

Aaron Wiggins made all four of his tries from distance as he continues his shooting hot streak, while Alex Caruso, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all added three of their own.

On the game, the Thunder posted 19 threes on 35 shots to catapult its scoring to 130 points on the night, and with a win.

Not So Fast

While Oklahoma City got the best of Minnesota to take the series lead on Sunday, both teams will have to turn right around and travel to Oklahoma City to face each other once more on Monday night in a back-to-back.

This will be a test for both teams coming back right out of the break, especially for a relatively banged up Timberwolves team.

Oklahoma City will be excited to be back in front of its home crowd for the first time since Feb. 12, and Minnesota would surely love to spoil that.

OKC will take on Minnesota at 7 p.m. on Monday night.

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