Takeaways: Timberwolves thump NBA-best Thunder 123-111 for third victory in a row

The NBA schedule is nonstop, so you might forgive some Timberwolves players for not remembering when certain games or moments happen in the course of the season.

“Honestly, I forget the day of the week,” Naz Reid said.

A natural question after the Wolves’ 123-111 victory over the NBA-leading Thunder on Thursday, Jan. 29, at Target Center was just how the Wolves responded from a five-game win streak that culminated in a team meeting four days earlier following a lopsided loss to the Warriors.

“What happened Sunday? We lost?” Jaden McDaniels asked.

“Who did we play Sunday?” Anthony Edwards said. “We lost to them?”

But regardless, the Wolves have responded how they wanted after their lowest point of the season. Compare that Warriors loss, when there were some boos at Target Center, to the victory over the Thunder, their third in a row, when there were multiple standing ovations in the fourth quarter of one of the most complete Wolves performances of the season.

In order to beat the Thunder, teams typically need contributions up and down the roster, and the Wolves got those in a big way from the likes of Reid and McDaniels. Reid had 18 points (6-for-10 shooting) and seven rebounds off the bench while McDaniels turned in an exemplary night of work at both ends of the floor. He finished with 21 points on 5-for-5 shooting from three-point range.

“I have this thing where we talk about rock bottom, and you think you’re at rock bottom, and until you get help and realize there’s always another rock bottom,” said Wolves coach Chris Finch, who did remember what happened in that first Warriors game earlier in the week. “Because people always think, ‘Oh, you know, this is as bad as it gets.’ And then if you don’t address it internally, then it gets worse. And I think guys they stood up. We had conversation after that game, and guys responded, in a very professional way.”

The Wolves remain as mercurial as ever. After losing five in a row, the Wolves have now won three consecutive games and knocked off the defending champions again at home, improving their record to 2-1 against the Thunder this season.

If January has shown anything about the Wolves, it’s that they are capable of big swings in their quality of play. Some of their best and worst basketball has come in the month, not that far apart from each other.

The Wolves defense was back, and it usually regains form when Edwards dedicates himself to that end of the floor. He realizes it.

“I think it just starts with me on the defensive end. Like, if I’m guarding at a high level, I think everybody’s gonna do it,” Edwards said. “So I just gotta make my mind up and choose to do it, which is, like I said, it’s always tough, but I gotta figure out a way to do it.”

“I think I just gotta lean on my teammates a little bit more on offensive and like just trust in them a little bit more and then just give more on the defensive end,” Edwards said.

The Wolves had 22 points off nine Thunder turnovers in the first half. The Wolves were turning defense into offense at a great clip in the first half, and that’s what enabled them to build a double-digit lead early. That was compared to OKC converting eight Wolves turnovers into only eight points.

The Wolves have lacked motivation at times this season at the start of games. That’s rarely the case against the Thunder, and that proved to be true again on this night.

The Wolves were up by as many as 14 points in the first after hitting 8-for-15 from three-point range, 50% overall. They held the Thunder to 8-for-22 shooting and had a 34-22 lead after one quarter. Bones Hyland, Edwards and McDaniels each had a pair of threes.

BOXSCORE: Wolves 123, Oklahoma City 111

Mike Conley was out for the second end of this back-to-back as he missed the game because of back spasms, the team said. Gobert came into the game questionable because of a sprained left ankle, but he was able to play.