Takeaways: Wolves keep the Thunder within reach until late in a 113-105 loss

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Timberwolves wanted to put their two most painful losses in the rearview mirror Wednesday night. Only problem was the one-loss Oklahoma City Thunder awaited them in the teams’ first matchup since the Western Conference finals.

The Wolves gave the defending NBA champions more than most teams have given them this season, but the Thunder still came away with a 113-105 victory after outplaying the Wolves down the stretch. The Wolves have lost three straight games. They are now 2-2 in group play of the NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points for the Thunder, while Anthony Edwards had 31 for the Wolves. Julius Randle struggled offensively, scoring just 10 points on 2-for-13 shooting.

In a back-and-forth fourth quarter, the Wolves tied the score 101-101 with 3 minutes, 41 seconds to play on a three-pointer by Donte DiVincenzo.

But the Wolves had two straight turnovers coming out of a timeout with just over three minutes to play. Rudy Gobert went to the line for two free throws but missed them both, and Jaden McDaniels committed a foul on the rebound. Chet Holmgren answered by hitting his free throws for a four-point Thunder lead. After an Edwards three-pointer, the Wolves doubled Gilgeous-Alexander, who found Holmgren for another three that essentially iced the game. The Wolves had 16 turnovers.

The Wolves got plenty of calls Wednesday night, but they couldn’t take advantage of the times they went to the free-throw line. The Wolves finished just 22-for-37 (59%). Gobert was 3-for-8, and Randle was 4-for-7 while Edwards was 8-for-12. The Thunder finished 30-for-38 (79%).

The Wolves came into the season with high expectations for Terrence Shannon Jr., but a toe injury has hampered his start. After re-entering the rotation Monday night in Sacramento, Shannon looked like the player he and the Wolves envisioned.

BOXSCORE: Oklahoma City 113, Wolves 105

NBA standings

Randle and Edwards finished the first half a combined 1-for-13 from the field, and the Wolves shot just 32%.

Shannon’s strong play continued into the second half. He went 3-for-3 from the field in the half and finished the game with 18 points.

The Wolves started the night just fine, but as the first quarter played on, their offense ground to halt. They had a 13-8 lead, but the Thunder outscored them 16-4 the rest of the quarter. The Wolves defense struggled at the rim with Gobert out, and the Thunder found cutting and driving lanes to the hoop.

The Wolves weren’t happy with how the game was officiated. Gobert was called for a technical foul for making contact with the nose of Isaiah Hartenstein in the first half, then he earned a flagrant foul-1 in the fourth quarter for contacting the head of Alex Caruso, even though it appeared Caruso grabbed Gobert’s arm in the air.

“Gobert makes unnecessary contact to the face of Caruso, and Caruso grabbing Gobert’s arm wasn’t a factor,” crew chief Josh Tiven said in a pool report. “He’s a vulnerable airborne player with potential for injury in the air, and he was bracing himself in midair as a result of the illegal contact by Rudy.”

In the third quarter, the Wolves were upset officials didn’t at least review a foul Lu Dort committed on Randle, when he appeared to grab and throw Randle while going for a rebound.

“At the time of the foul, the crew did not see contact that warranted a review,” Tiven said.

Wolves coach Chris Finch was not thrilled after the game. When asked what explanation he received for the flagrant foul, Finch said: “By that time, I was so fatigued by all the explanations that I got that I didn’t even ask for one. He goes up to just make a regular block on the play. I guess they said he followed through, but don’t you follow through when you try to block a shot? I didn’t see it. I saw Dort throw Julius to the ground and get body slammed, but that wasn’t reviewed. I saw a flop by Hartenstein that was reviewed. Rudy doesn’t get a lot of benefit of the doubt.”