Thunder storm back to steal victory from Wolves

Well before Anthony Edwards clanged three consecutive free throws with the Timberwolves down three and 3.5 seconds remaining Saturday night, they had made their bed in a 102-97 loss to the Thunder.

That bed was not a well-kept one, not with 21 turnovers, which included seven in the fourth quarter. As a result, Edwards wasn’t so upset with his missed free throws, but other facets of his and the Wolves’ game as Oklahoma City (29-13) pulled within a game of the Wolves (30-12) for the top spot in the Western Conference.

“Either I was going to make them or miss them, it don’t really matter,” Edwards said. “I missed them tonight, but I’ll make them next time.”

Edwards (19 points) was more upset with the turnovers, five of which were his, and he was also upset with the whistle Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was getting on a night Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points, 12 of which came at the foul line. It was also Gilgeous-Alexander who put Oklahoma City ahead for good on a stepback three with 1:14 to play.

When asked a question about the key to defending the Thunder — which the Wolves did, in limiting them to 40% shooting — Edwards turned his answer into a gripe about the calls Gilgeous-Alexander was getting.

“It’s hard to [contain them] with the calls that Shai gets,” Edwards said. “It’s hard to shut them down. You can’t touch him any time of the game. It’s super hard to beat. That team is a good team, especially when they’re getting calls like that.”

But bad whistle or not, the officials weren’t to blame for all the Wolves’ miscues. Each starter had at least two turnovers, with Mike Conley capping his roughest night of the season (1-for-11, three points) with three turnovers. Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and three turnovers while Edwards pledged to be better in that department.

“I got to look in the mirror,” Edwards said. “Because it’s me who generates most of the turnovers. … I’m definitely looking at film trying to figure out what am I doing? The majority come from me trying to make the right play. It’s not really there. I’ll be better.”

The Wolves starters all had a negative plus-minus rating while the reserves held it together after they fell behind by 16 early. Naz Red had 18 points off the bench and was a plus-17 despite his four turnovers. The Wolves had a strong third quarter, which they won 29-17 in part by turning the ball over just once, and grew their lead to as much as 12 before collapsing in the fourth. They scored just 14 fourth-quarter points as the Thunder chipped away before outexecuting them late.

“You’re not beating good teams with 21 turnovers,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “Particularly the way we turned it over.”

BOXSCORE: Oklahoma City 102, Wolves 97

Sign up for our Wolves Update newsletter

That is, dribbling into crowds, then trying to do too much once they get there. That was the Thunder strategy, Gilgeous-Alexander said after the game, and the Wolves played right into their hands. Reid and others said the Wolves have to make simpler plays, even if that’s easier said than done sometimes.

“Some people might see something that we don’t see, or try to do something that we might not know,” Reid said. “I’ve been in those situations as well. … At some point, we have to read the defense and just make the right play.”

But playing in crowds can sometimes be a good thing, because extra attention around one player should in theory open things up for the rest of the offense. Except when the Wolves did get open shots late, they weren’t falling, especially for Conley, who went 1-for-9 from deep and missed an open three with 23.4 seconds left that could have put them up two.

“I thought he missed a lot of good ones. He rarely takes bad ones,” Finch said. “It was just one of those nights. He hasn’t had one all season, maybe since he’s been here. It happens, brush it off and onto the next.”

The same goes for the Wolves, but they can’t just set aside their turnover problem.

“Just be simpler with the game,” Towns said. “Don’t be cute.”