to advance to first-round playoff matchup with the Nuggets as Minnesota center Rudy Gobert returns from his one game suspension for shoving teammate Kyle Anderson.
• The massacre saw all five Timberwolves starters score in the double digits. In the first round of this year's playoffs, Minnesota will play the Denver Nuggets. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota into the playoffs. The Timberwolves defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95 on Friday night to win the play-in tournament.
Rudy Gobert had 21 focuses and 10 bounce back in his return from exile for swinging at partner Kyle Anderson, and the Wolves finished up the NBA season finisher section by holding onto the No. With a near-perfect performance at the conclusion of yet another season that was harder than it had to be, the 8 seed in the Western Conference.
The Wolves, led by 19 points and 10 rebounds from Anthony Edwards, outscored their opponents 58-30 in points scored inside the paint.
No will confront them. Denver, the number one seed, in a best-of-seven series that begins Sunday night.
The Thunder were led by 22 points from Shai Gilgeou -Alexander, who made 12 of 12 free throws but only 5 of 19 field goals. Lu Dort and Jalen Williams each had 17 points.
- The Minnesota Timberwolves advanced to the playoffs and face the Denver Nuggets on Sun.
- Rudy Gober had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds in his return from suspension
The Timberwolves started Nickiel Alexander-Walker to guard the dynamic Gilgeous-Alexander with their best defender, Jaden McDaniels, out with a broken hand from punching a wall in the final regular-season game shortly before Gobert hit Anderson during a timeout argument. They are actually cousins.
Gorgeous-Alexander was delayed to get rolling in the Thunder's play-in competition opener, as well, prior to scoring 25 of his 32 focuses after halftime in the 113-108 win over New Orleans.
This time, the NBA's fourth-leading scorer picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter. A few minutes later, Gobert accidentally elbowed him in the eye as he rebounded and sank his own miss, forcing him to leave the game for treatment.
In the first play-in game on Tuesday, Minnesota lost 108-102 in overtime to Los Angeles. Towns scored 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting, but he spent too much time on the perimeter down the stretch as the Wolves' offense struggled.
With a ball that was always moving, the Wolves took much better outside and inside shots this time.
The big men Towns and Gobert were going to have to work against the smaller Thunder because they were heavily relying on their advantage around the basket.
Gobert was listed as questionable because of a back injury, which could have kept him out of the game against the Lakers anyway, making his team's suspension meaningless. He moved around quite stiffly. When he was on the bench, he wore a wrap around his midsection, but in the second half, he settled in.