{p dir=”ltr”}OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Thunder ended one other close loss with a little bit of a referee controversy.
A number of moments close to the tip noticed the Thunder crowd groan and get audibly upset, however the loudest response was a Eugene Omoruyi free ball foul on Naz Reid throughout an inbound cross with 4.2 seconds left.
“The fact that they got together and conferenced [to] discuss it was good,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault stated when requested in regards to the late inbound scenario that resulted within the Omoruyi foul.
Instead of a possible scramble for a free ball in a two-point sport, Reid was awarded a visit to the free-throw line that grew their lead to three factors.
The shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves had been in a position to maintain on and defeat the Thunder, 112-110, in a sport that noticed eight lead modifications and eight ties. The Thunder finishes its common season collection towards the Timberwolves with losses in three of 4 video games.
Here are three different ideas from the Thunder’s two-point loss to the Timberwolves:
No Karl-Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobert, no drawback
The Timberwolves entered Friday’s sport with out two of its greatest gamers in Towns and Gobert. The former continues to miss time with a calf pressure whereas the latter was dominated out 90 minutes earlier than the sport due to an ankle sprain.
Luckily for the Timberwolves, they had been in a position to play a workforce that was additionally depleted within the Thunder, who had been lacking Kenrich Williams, Ousmane Dieng, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and — after all — Chet Holmgren.
Without Towns or Gobert, Reid and Nathan Knight stepped up of their absence. Reid completed with 28 factors on 11-of-18 taking pictures and grabbed 9 rebounds. Knight scored 10 factors on 3-of-3 taking pictures in 11 minutes.
Austin Rivers additionally had an enormous scoring evening, ending with 20 factors and hit an enormous 3 to broaden the Timberwolves’ lead to 4 factors late within the sport.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to shine
Gilgeous-Alexander had one other nice efficiency towards the Timberwolves, ending with 35 factors on 11-of-23 taking pictures, seven rebounds and 5 assists. Gilgeous-Alexander continues to make a dwelling on the charity stripe, making 10-of-12 makes an attempt.
Gilgeous-Alexander did most of his scoring injury within the third quarter, the place he scored a career-high 23 factors on 7-of-11 taking pictures.
Dieng out, Lu Dort injured
The Thunder introduced Thursday that rookie ahead Dieng suffered a non-displaced fracture on his proper wrist and can miss at the least six weeks. Dieng sustained the damage on Wednesday throughout a G League sport.
Dieng additionally suffered a fracture on the identical wrist this previous July through the 2022 Summer League. The 19-year-old was chosen eleventh total within the first spherical of the 2022 NBA draft. In 14 video games with the Thunder, Dieng is averaging 4.4 factors and a pair of.9 rebounds.
In the third quarter, Dort landed awkwardly whereas contesting a shot. Dort took some time to stand up earlier than finally exiting the sport. The Thunder later dominated Dort out for the remainder of the sport with a right-hand sprain.
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