After striking 12 times, the Thunder were halted in Minnesota.
The
home team Timberwolves put a halt to the Oklahoma City Thunder's
12-game win streak with a 99-93 win, Thursday (Friday, PHL time) at the
Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in an inter-division game.
The Timberwolves had last Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time) failed in their bid to take down the reigning NBA champions, the Miami Heat.
They bounced back though by dispatching the Western Conference
champions, to improve their record to 13-11, while OKC absorbed their
fifth defeat in 26 games.
Minnesota looked the better team from
the start, jumping out to a 30-18 first quarter lead. With under 30
seconds to play in the first half, a triple by Alexey Shved maintained
the T-wolves' 12-point advantage, but OKC power forward Serge Ibaka
nailed a triple with 0.09 seconds left to slice their deficit to single
digits, 53-44.
In the second half, the Thunder made their move,
as a driving dunk by Kevin Durant, off a Russell Westbrook assist, made
it a five-point game, 68-63, with 3:37 left in the third. Six straight
to begin the payoff period then got OKC all the way to within a point,
76-75, after a jumper by Reggie Jackson.
That was about the time
when reserve Minnesota guard JJ Barea took over the game, scoring 14 of
the Timberwolves' next 16 points, including a stretch of 12 straight. A
pair of free throws by Kevin Love then made it a 94-81 affair with 3:49
left, seemingly sealing the deal for the home team.
Russell
Westbrook however keyed in a frantic Thunder rally, as charities by him
and Durant had it down to four, 97-93, with 12.2 seconds remaining in
the game. Luke Ridnour was there to clinch things though with his free
throws, for the Wolves' first victory against OKC since January 7, 2009.
Kevin
Love was his usual dominant self, producing 28 points, 11 rebounds,
seven assists and two blocks. Fellow big man Nikola Pekovic added 24
points and 10 rebounds, while Alexey Sheved had an all-around game with
12 points, seven boards, and 12 assists.
Barea finished with 18
markers off the bench, while Ricky Rubio had four points, three rebounds
and three assists in a reserve role.
Kevin Durant exploded for
33 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, while Russell
Westbrook narrowly missed a triple-double, garnering 30 points, 11
rebounds and nine assists. The latter though had eight turnovers as
well. The duo were forced to carry the bulk of the Thunder offense with
sixth man Kevin Martin sidelined with a right quad contusion.
The Timberwolves were effective sharing the ball, assisting on 27 of their 37 field goals. The Thunder had just 17 dimes. - AMD, GMA News
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/287282/sports/basketball/nba-timberwolves-snap-thunder-39-s-12-game-win-streak
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