Gilgeous-Alexander scores 40 as Thunder rolls to brink of Finals

NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a masterful performance to power Oklahoma City past Minnesota 128-126 on Monday, rolling the Thunder to the brink of the NBA Finals.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff career-high 40 points and added 10 assists and nine rebounds to spark the Thunder, which took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals series, with the potentially clinching Game 5 set for Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

"Play to our identity on both ends of the floor — if we do that we'll be just fine," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "If not, it could get ugly. So, we've just got to be who we are; trust our work and trust our habits."

Jalen Williams added 34 points with 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range for the Thunder, and Chet Holmgren contributed 21.

"They were amazing tonight," said Gilgeous-Alexander of the duo. "They were confident. They weren't rattled by the moment. There's so much to say about the work they put in — the effort — and the character those two guys have. They deserve these moments. I'm nothing but proud of these two."

The Thunder has not reached the NBA Finals since losing to Miami in 2012, while the Timberwolves have never reached the championship series.

Reserves Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo sparked Minnesota with 23 and 21 points, respectively, while Jaden McDaniels added 22 and star guard Anthony Edwards, who was tightly guarded all night, managed only 16 on 5-of-13 shooting.

"They are a really good team," said Gilgeous-Alexander. "You try and do a good job on their main guys, and their B, C and D guys get off. You've got to try and do the job all the way around. It's harder than it looks."

The Timberwolves surrendered 21 turnovers and allowed the Thunder 19 offensive rebounds.

"You're not going to beat a team like this if you are turning it over 20-plus times and letting them have a bunch of second-chance opportunities, and we knew that," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.

Oklahoma City won the first two games at home, but host Minnesota routed the Thunder in Game 3, setting up an intense Game 4.

Both teams were physical and aggressive and shooting hot from the start, with Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams each scoring 13 points in the first quarter as the Thunder took a 37-30 lead.

Gilgeous-Alexander was 5-of-6 from the floor, while Williams was 5-of-8 and 3-of-5 from three-point range.

The Timberwolves hit 12-of-19 and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, but they also made seven turnovers, and Edwards did not take a shot until only 35 seconds remained in the first quarter.

Gilgeous-Alexander had 21 points in the first half, to help Oklahoma City to a 65-57 halftime lead, while Edwards had taken only two shots and Minnesota had surrendered 13 turnovers.

Wolves rally late

The Thunder took its biggest lead at 68-57 in the opening seconds of the third quarter, but the Wolves answered with a 9-0 run, Rudy Gobert scoring four in the spurt. The Oklahoma City lead was only 90-85 entering the fourth quarter.

McDaniels sank a left corner three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining to lift Minnesota to within two points at 123-121, but Gilgeous-Alexander answered with two free throws to boost the Thunder's lead to five with 14 seconds left.

Gobert's rebound putback pulled the Wolves back to 125-123 with nine seconds remaining, but NBA scoring champion Gilgeous-Alexander made 1-of-2 free throws to leave the Wolves a three-pointer shy of tying the game with eight seconds remaining.

Minnesota's Naz Reid made two free throws, but Gilgeous-Alexander was fouled and sank two free throws to give the Thunder a 128-125 lead.

Edwards was fouled with 3.5 seconds remaining and made the first free throw, then intentionally missed the second, but Gilgeous-Alexander threw the ball down the court and out of bounds with 0.3 of a second to play.

A desperation inbounds play failed, and the Thunder secured a hardfought triumph.

AFP