MINNEAPOLIS — Being blown out the game before didn't sit well with Oklahoma City.
The young Thunder moved within one win of the NBA Finals with a championship response.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a steely performance befitting the NBA MVP and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped back from a 42-point loss by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-126 in Game 4 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.
''I tried not to worry too much about scoring or making plays or whatever it was,'' Gilgeous-Alexander said. ''I tried to just lose myself in the competition, be aggressive, pick my spots.''
Jalen Williams scored 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range, and Chet Holmgren added 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in a statement game in his hometown that helped the Thunder stave off several pushes by the Wolves to tie the series.
Gilgeous-Alexander went 12 for 14 from the free-throw line, making a pair with 6.1 seconds left to stretch the lead back to three. The Thunder fouled Anthony Edwards with 3.5 seconds to go, and his intentional miss of the second free throw to try to keep possession was tracked down in the corner by Gilgeous-Alexander and flung out of bounds to drain the clock.
The Wolves had one more desperation inbounds pass from half-court with 0.3 seconds remaining that Williams grabbed to send the Thunder back to Oklahoma City for a close-out Game 5 on Wednesday.
''They outplayed us, outrebounded us, got more of the 50-50 balls,'' said Edwards, who was limited to 16 points. ''Wanted it a little bit more.''
