Malik Beasley sets NBA record as Wolves crush Thunder for 6th straight win

The last time the Timberwolves won six consecutive games, their star Kevin Garnett was league MVP and Malik Beasley was 8 years old.

That was 2004.

In Wednesday's 132-102 victory over Oklahoma City at Target Center, Beasley set a club record with 11 three-pointers made, and the Wolves hit a winning streak not reached since Chris Finch coached anonymously in Germany 18 years ago.

Beasley finished 11-for-17 from the field — all of them three-point shots that made his 33 points scored the most in NBA history by a player who scored all his points on threes.

"I felt good tonight," Beasley said. "After the first three, they got me going. Ever since that, I ran away with it."

The Wolves now have defeated Cleveland, Golden State and Portland and Oklahoma City twice each in their past six games.

They now have won 38 games, are nine games over .500 and are seventh place in the West.

"We're just getting started," Beasley said. "We're not looking just to be a [playoff] play-in team."

Beasley started himself by making six of the first seven shots he took in an 18-point first quarter when the Wolves built a 32-21 lead that turned to 74-47 by halftime.

They led by as many as 34 points in the fourth quarter against an opponent they had thrashed by 37 points in Oklahoma City on Friday. Afterward, Finch praised his team for play that allowed him to rest most of his starters in the fourth quarter against a Thunder team missing eight injured players.

With Patrick Beverley and Jarred Vanderbilt out, Beasley started and stayed on the floor until he made that 11th three, a club record by one over Anthony Edwards' 10 from December.

He toyed with Oklahoma City's Vit Krejci, showing him the ball on his dribble, then taking it away 1-on-1 before Beasley stepped back behind the line and launched a three with 5:06 left in the game.

"It was crazy," Beasley said. "The dribble, too, made it even better."

He said he never set aim at the club record, even after his fast start.

"I didn't think until I was about at 9 and somebody told me what the record was," he said. "It was a good night tonight."

The Wolves led by 30 after that 11th three. Finch pulled him from the game to rousing applause from the announced crowd of 16,191.

After he ended up at the end of the bench, Beverley and D'Angelo Russell doused him with water.

"I was in the moment," Beasley said. "It didn't matter if it was Gatorade, water or a smoothie, I was happy.

"Looks like Mardi Gras at the end of our bench sometimes," Finch said. "They're enjoying it, and they're enjoying the success of their teammates. We just have to make sure we keep it on a professional level. We've got a lot of personality on our team. You have to let it flow sometimes."

Beasley's 11 threes were three shy of the NBA record, Golden State's Klay Thompson with 14.

"I was trying to ask someone what the [league] record was," Beasley said.

Beasley was asked if it was by plan or if it just worked out that every shot he took Wednesday was a three-pointer. "That was just the way they worked out," he said. "They should have known I'm a shooter."

Once historically left behind by the NBA's three-point arms race, the Wolves now are getting themselves back in the game.

"Shooting to me is like Black Jack," Finch said. "You just have to have the money to stay at the table long enough so when the cards come back around, you're going to win. Efficient offense is not about making shots. It's about taking the right amount of shots. We stay committed to what we believe in and those shots will fall because they're high-quality looks."