How are we meant to remember the finish of the Thunder’s Game 4 win? A quarter and final few minutes so chaotic that they feel impossible to define or whittle down to a single moment.
“The Catch” could refer to two different things. It could be the Timberwolves fan on the sideline, who obstructed the path of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s clock-shaving heave by plucking it midair like a home run over a wall. Or it could be Jalen Williams’ subsequent interception, a proper NBA combine leap to snatch away Minnesota’s prayer of a lob.
It could be recalled as Mark Daigneault’s redemption; he ruled to foul up three, surviving to see the Thunder a win away from the NBA Finals. There was relief in a tactic he always believed in, even if it burned him in the previous round. He didn’t go without a reminder.
“Get all your shots in,” he jokingly told The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto when asked about it.
Let’s settle for The Close. A prowess acquired during this playoff run, exemplified in this core’s most meaningful game yet.
OKC entered these playoffs having played the fewest clutch-time minutes of any regular-season minutes of any team this century. It survived a game Monday that would’ve buried many times across many eras.
It fended off a legendary performance from Minnesota’s surrounding core. The Wolves totaled 64 bench points, with Donte DiVincenzo providing multiple long-range answers, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker channeling familial heroics.
The Thunder controlled a game that saw video game-like shotmaking. Minnesota outscored OKC 41-38 in the final period. It made six of its 13 3-pointers in those 12 minutes. I was an improbable series of swings that felt like so few teams could match.
And yet Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder just seemed to swing back with lead in their gloves.
SGA shot midrange jumpers over a defense allowing him to, at most, pull up over its heads. Jalen Williams drilled 3s against a collapsed defense, each one more timely. Chet Holmgren, the only center on the floor for OKC for most of the quarter, owned the rim on both sides.
Without its 29-point comeback in Memphis, perhaps OKC never quite grasps the relentless across the quarter that Monday demanded.
Without its meltdown in Game 1, it never stares tragedy in the face, burned by fouling up three. Those free throws have never been more safe. Alex Caruso, critical of himself the first time, allowed Minnesota to trim more clock before fouling this time.
Without the tail end of the Denver series, when OKC entered multiple fourth quarters trailing by several possessions, perhaps the Thunder couldn’t go for tit-for-tat with so much poise in a game that saw endless responses.
Without Game 3, when the Thunder was brutally reminded that these are the Western Conference finals, it might not have played with the force required to keep the Wolves at bay. Lu Dort felt like the perfect man for Julius Randle’s aggressive post ups.
Randle attempted two of his mere seven FGAs in the fourth, a postseason low. Anthony Edwards, productive and explosive in his drives, was 2 for 6 with a pair of turnovers in the quarter.
Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams — the list goes on of hands and heads who emerged from broken plays like groundhogs. Of defenders who absorbed shoulders and elbows and runs in order to see OKC’s Game 4 win through.
Game 4 looked like the sum of the postseason. A hectic but complete close.
The Thunder of two weeks ago, let alone before then, might not have even pulled it off.
Joel Lorenzi covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joel? He can be reached at jlorenzi@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @joelxlorenzi. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Joel’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
NBA Playoffs: Thunder vs. Timberwolves | Western Conference finals