Last night the Minnesota Timberwolves mounted an incredible 24-point comeback over the Oklahoma City Thunder and defeated the #1 team in the West 131-128 in overtime. Wolves star Nickeil Alexander-Walker sat down with Malika Andrews on NBA on ESPN to discuss the major victory — crediting his teammate Anthony Edwards for saving the day.
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Heading into the 4th quarter the Wolves were down 102-80 and it looked like they would be leaving Oklahoma with an L. The team then mounted a massive comeback to force overtime and even more impressive, they did it without a lot of help from Edwards. That was until Ant blocked Thunders’ superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 13 seconds on the clock and a 1-point lead in OT, a crucial play that helped the Wolves seal the win.
Andrews asked Alexander-Walker to take her through Ant’s massive block on SGA and how the Wolves were preparing for that key possession. He stated that keeping the ball out of SGA’s hands was crucial since SGA had been double-teamed for nearly 20 minutes and wasn’t going to accept anyone else taking a shot with the game on the line. Alexander-Walker then laughed because he blew his assignment on SGA on that play.
“We’ve been double teaming him for the past maybe 24 minutes, right? And so we knew he wasn’t just going to accept the double team and try to get off and leave it up to somebody else. So it was tough for me.”
Fortunately, Ant popped in right at the right time.
“ANT was just himself. Stepping up in big moments, whether it was offensively or defensively, that’s what he does. He saved us,” Alexander-Walker stated with a smile.
“We knew they were going to Shai.”
Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker with @malika_andrews on the Wolves’ 24-point 4th quarter comeback against his cousin, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pic.twitter.com/EfVF8PsvMN
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 25, 2025
This victory was big for the Wolves considering they had lost to the Thunder one night prior 130-123 in a back-to-back matchup. Andrews then reminded viewers that Alexander-Walker and SGA were real-life cousins, and asked what their post-game relationship is like.
“I didn’t rub it in,” said Walker about the win. “We’re even right now in the series so that’s all that matters. I couldn’t let him go up two games.”
Will the Thunder and the Wolves play each other again this season?
As of right now, this would be the last time Alexander-Walker and the Wolves play SGA and the Thunder this season. However, the two teams could clash in the postseason depending on how the dominoes fall in the final games.
The Wolves currently hold the #7 seed and would be in the fight for a playoff spot through the play-in games. If they do make it out in the 1st play-in game, they would face the #2 Denver Nuggets, if the playoffs started today.
Meanwhile, the Thunder are the top dogs in the Western Conference. They would face the team that manages to come through and win the 3rd play-in game.
If they do clash again it will be the tiebreaker between the competitive cousins in a series that would be much more meaningful.
