Oklahoma City Thunder vs Minnesota Timberwolves Match Player Stats On Apr 11, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Apr 11, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS -- Victor Oladipo scored 20 points, including the game-winning jumper with six seconds left, as the Oklahoma City Thunder held on for a 100-98 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.

Domantas Sabonis had 19 points as six players scored in double figures for short-handed Oklahoma City, which was without star guard Russell Westbrook, who missed his first game of the season to rest.

Kyle Singler tied a season high with 11 points and Norris Cole had 12 points off the bench for the Thunder, who were without Westbrook, Andre Roberson (rest), Taj Gibson (rest) and Doug McDermott (knee soreness).

Oklahoma City has clinched the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference playoffs and couldn't move up or down in the season's final two games. The Thunder (47-34) will play the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. Oklahoma City is 19-22 on the road but has won four of its last five away from home.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota (31-50), which lost its final home game of the season after Andrew Wiggins' 3-pointer at the buzzer missed the mark. Gorgui Dieng had 19 points for the Timberwolves, and Wiggins finished with 18. Ricky Rubio contributed 14 points and 10 assists.

The Timberwolves faded down the stretch and will miss the playoffs for the 13th straight season. They have lost five in a row and finished 20-21 at home. Point guard Ricky Rubio added 14 points and 10 assists.

Dieng gave Minnesota a 98-97 lead with a jumper from the corner, but Cole was fouled by Rubio trying for the steal on an inbounds pass and made one of two free throws. After a Minnesota miss on the other end, Oladipo hit the game-winner.

Even short-handed, the Thunder dominated the first half, shooting 50 percent from the field and leading by as many as 22 points. Minnesota shot 36.6 percent in the half, including 1 of 6 from 3-point range.

The Timberwolves' defense, an issue all season, couldn't handle Oklahoma City's secondary players. Sabonis had 13 points in the half and Singler added nine points. Singler, starting in place of Roberson, had seven of Oklahoma City's first 22 points.

Minnesota came out determined with a 19-6 run to start the second half and tied the game. But the Timberwolves never led by more than three points and the Thunder answered right back to set up the back-and-forth finish.

NOTES: Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns passed Kevin Love for the most points in a single season in franchise history. Towns has 2,033 points this season. Love finished with 2,010 in 2013-14. Kevin Garnett is third on the list with 1,987 points in 2003-04. ... The Wolves unveiled a new logo at halftime featuring a wolf's head imposed over a basketball in the team's blue and green colors. ... Thunder G Alex Abrines returned after missing three games with a left knee sprain. ... Towns and Minnesota Fs Andrew Wiggins and Gorgui Dieng are three of five players to have played in all of their team's games this season, after Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook missed his first game of the season. Washington C Marcin Gortat and Indiana PG Jeff Teague are the others.