Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combine to outmuscle Kevin Love; Oklahoma City Thunder edge Minnesota Timberwolves in double O.T – NBA
Ever since Ricky Rubio suffered a season ending injury, Minnesota Timberwolves have been struggling to muster wins despite monster efforts from their talisman Kevin Love.
The trend reached its painful climax on Friday. Up against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Love erupted with franchise-best 51 points and hauled down a team high 14 rebounds but it was still not enough for the Wolves to record a win
as they continue to slide down from the playoff picture.
The maverick effort from Love did take the game into double overtime, but with stalwarts Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant in the opposition, the T’Wolves simply ran out of ammunition down the stretch.
Russell pounded a game-high 45 points, Durant hit big with 40 points and a season-high 17 rebounds as Thunder overcame the Timberwolves 149-140.
Love was sensational right from the word go. After the Wolves went down 4-0 at the start, the power forward knocked three consecutive 3 pointers in a 13-4 run. The spurt was followed by five consecutive points from Westbrook and
the trend was set for the night.
OKC took a slender 30-29 lead into the second and then exploded with a 17-5 run. James Harden scored 8 of his 25 points in the game to start the run, which took the Thunder to 47-34 inside the first four minutes of the period.
In the next five plus minutes, Minnesota punched right back with an 18-5 foray and made it a three point game, 52-55.
Westbrook and Durant helped Thunder to push the lead to 61-54, but a last minutes rally from the T’Wolves ended the half at 61-63. Durant only scored 8 points in the first half.
Oklahoma City took control early in the second half and raced away to 12-4 run to reclaim a double digit lead, but with 6 minutes left in the third, Minnesota charged right back, outscoring OKC 18-12 to make it 83-87.
Thunder however finished strong and then dominated early in the fourth to draw out a 103-95 advantage. Keyed by Love, Minnesota would come right back and with 2:07 left in regulation a tip in from Minnesota’s All Star made it 106-108.
Westbrook responded with a clutch three to put the heat right back on the Wolves, but Love, after splitting a pair of free throw, hauled down a layup and J.J. Redick netted a deuce to tie it at 113. Oklahoma City had the next possession
with 27.9 seconds left and right when the shot clock was about to expire, Durant dropped a dagger from downtown to leave the Wolves stunned.
Minnesota however had the three point champion in their ranks and 3.9 seconds were more than enough for him to find the inside of the cup and the tie the game again. Durant missed a last gasp attempt on three and the game went
into overtime.
Love scored the first eight points for the Wolves in the bonus period to keep them ahead, but OKC remained close by and a pair of free throws from Durant with 1:20 left on the clock, tied the game at 124. Anthony Tolliver erupted
with 5 of his 23 points within a space of 12 seconds to give Minnesota a clear five point edge, but Westbrook drilled a mid range jumper and with Love turning the ball over on the next possession, Durant knocked down a 3 to tie the game once again.
With the clock winding down, Barea had a chance to hit the game winning shot, but his 3 point attempt was off target and the scores remained at 129 apiece.
The reserve guard however kept the Wolves in the hunt, scoring 8 of their first 9 points in the second extra period for 138-140. Minnesota had the chance to tie it, but a layup for Love was rejected by Collison and the game turned
on its head after that as the Wolves completely went cold to allow Thunder a 9-nothing run.
The loss put an exclamation mark to a marathon and tough seven-game road trip, which started shortly after Rubio had suffered the season ending injury in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
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