Rudy Gobert lights up Thunder, rescues Timberwolves in opening night win

When last seen at Target Center, the Timberwolves were losing large leads in the second half in their playoff loss to Memphis. On Wednesday night, in the season opener, there was a familiar feeling in the building as a 16-point lead turned into a six-point Thunder lead in the third quarter — an anxious crowd, a stalling offense and a few boo birds who came out of their nests.

But there was one key difference between then and now — Rudy Gobert.

The Wolves' newest prize acquisition showed up at the most opportune times to help rescue a team still figuring itself out in a 115-108 Wolves victory.

"His impact was strong everywhere," coach Chris Finch said.

Gobert finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds and had two specific plays that helped the building and his team exhale.

"We play unselfishly and I think we had a lot of open shots tonight that we didn't make," Gobert said. "If we keep playing that way, we'll be pretty good."

Late in the third quarter, Gobert had a steal with only a few seconds remaining on the clock. He dribbled down and launched a floater from about 15 feet before the buzzer. That bucket tied the score 87-87 and gave the crowd a reason to cheer when it had almost none the rest of the quarter.

The Wolves maintained a small lead throughout the fourth quarter, but the Thunder were within one or two possessions as the game went into crunch time. The Wolves led just 105-103 with just under three minutes to play when D'Angelo Russell (20 points, 7-for-16) missed a jumper. Gobert was there for a tip-in bucket that put the Wolves up four, and Oklahoma City never had the ball with a chance to tie the rest of the game.

"It's going to get better and better," Gobert said. "It takes time, but I really love the way guys were looking for each other. With that mind-set, we're going in the right direction."

Those key offensive plays came in addition to Gobert's traditionally strong defense that affected numerous Thunder shots around the rim.

"Guys are not just laying it up," Anthony Edwards said. "They got to float it or stop and pop. I see a couple guys trying to do super high layups. It's crazy."

Gobert's big night helped make up for a struggling Edwards, who had 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting. Karl-Anthony Towns had just 12 points on 2-for-10 but added seven assists.

Gobert wasn't alone in swinging the game. Jaden McDaniels, the player the Wolves refused to relinquish in the trade for Gobert, picked up where he left off from the end of last season with 19 points while drawing the toughest defensive assignments on the Thunder.

McDaniels shot a career-high 10 free throws and had three assists, two blocks and three steals.

"Not one play was drawn up for him," Russell said. "So for him to dominate the way he did … he's going to be huge."

The Wolves took their first step toward having the kind of season they envision with Gobert on board. But they are still far from the team they think they can become.

For one, Finch said the Wolves were lacking physicality, and that showed up in the 57-55 rebounding advantage a much smaller Thunder team had over the Wolves.

"We just kind of got outcompeted on the glass. That's not a good thing," Finch said. "We got to find ways to be more physical."

There is time to address that. For now, the Wolves are 1-0.

"I like where we were at," Russell said. "Obviously we could've done better with a lot of things, but we squeezed that one out."