Timberwolves Make NBA History in Game 3 Blowout of Thunder

The league's best team this year was thrown into reverse.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards scored a team-high 30 points in a 143–101 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards scored a team-high 30 points in a 143–101 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. / Jesse D. Garrabrant / Getty Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder entered Game 3 of the Western Conference finals out for blood—raring to take full control of a series in which they were heavily favored.

That would have made a good story if the Thunder showed up. Instead, the Minnesota Timberwolves demolished Oklahoma City 143–101 in a dazzling home-court display of their offensive depth.

Oklahoma City—68-14 this year—was outmatched from the start, going down by 20 after the first quarter and 31 at the break. Its futility handed the Timberwolves a slice of history: their 42-point margin of victory was the largest ever against a 65-win team in either the regular or postseason.

Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards led the way with a complete performance, tallying 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the newly crowned MVP, was held to a season-low 14 points.

Another win will put the Timberwolves two victories from the NBA Finals, which would tie the 2004 edition of the team for Minnesota's closest brush with a conference title. Game 4 is set for Monday night from Minneapolis's Target Center, with tip-off scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EST.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .