Sports
Timberwolves erase 25-point deficit to defeat Thunder 131-128 in overtime
The Minnesota Timberwolves completed a fearless comeback win for the ages Monday night.
Minnesota erased a 25-point third-quarter deficit against the Western Conference’s top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder (46-11) to pick up a 131-128 overtime road victory at Paycom Center.
With the win the Wolves (32-27) snap a two-game skid and, more importantly, inch closer to the LA Clippers for the sixth spot in the Western Conference standings.
With just under 20 seconds remaining in the overtime period, Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander attacked the rim, where he was met by Minnesota star Anthony Edwards, who swatted Gilgeous-Alexander’s shot with 13 seconds remaining.
The Timberwolves’ Terrence Shannon Jr. recovered the loose ball en route to a Minnesota timeout with 10.4 seconds left. Following two made free throws by Naz Reid to put the Wolves ahead by 3, Gilgeous-Alexander hoisted a contested off-the-dribble 3-pointer to tie it, but the miss completed an epic comeback for Minnesota.
ANT BLOCKS SGA’S GAME-WINNER ATTEMPT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Ap8SEet4VJ
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 25, 2025
With just under four minutes to go, Jalen Williams converted a layup to give the Thunder a 16-point margin and what appeared to be enough to seal another victory. The Timberwolves had other ideas.
Williams’ field goal was the last Oklahoma City would make in regulation, and the Wolves caught just enough fire to spark a comeback in the waning minutes of regulation — all without Edwards. Inside the final minute of the fourth quarter, Jaden McDaniels converted an and-1 layup over Thunder guard Alex Caruso, tying the game with 12 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Nickeil Alexander-Walker missed a game-winning floater attempt at the buzzer, leading to overtime.
McDaniels led Minnesota with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four assists and Reid added 22 points and 11 rebounds. Edwards finished with a near triple-double, contributing 17 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists to round out three starters finishing in double-figures. Alexander-Walker added 21 points and five rebounds while Shannon Jr. tallied a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench.
Gilgeous-Alexander also neared a triple-double with a 39-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist effort on an efficient 11-of-20 shooting from the field. Williams had 27 points and Aaron Wiggins finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
What this means for Timberwolves
Minnesota has been one of the worst clutch teams in the league this season. The Wolves have lost 21 games in clutch time, defined as within five points in the final five minutes. This game looked like it was getting nowhere near clutch time until an unheralded group rallied them.
With Edwards on the sideline with a sore calf, coach Chris Finch said he nearly pulled the plug when they were down 19 points with 6:28 to play. But Shannon Jr. converted a three-point play and another layup to cut it to 12 with just under five minutes to play.
“When we got it down to 12, I thought we had a chance,” Finch said. “I wouldn’t have necessarily put money on us winning, but I thought at that point we had a chance.”
This was the largest fourth-quarter deficit overcome in franchise history, per Elias. Minnesota also is just the second team since 2002-03 to come back to win a game after trailing by at least 16 points with 3:45 to go, per Wolves PR. The only other team to do it? The Sacramento Kings did it against Minnesota in 2020.
Finch stuck with a five that included Shannon Jr., Rob Dillingham, Alexander-Walker, McDaniels and Reid, and that group rallied to force overtime. The Wolves also were missing starters Julius Randle (groin), Donte DiVincenzo (toe) and Rudy Gobert (back), but Minnesota found a way to push through for what could be a season-defining win.
This season has been disjointed as the Wolves have tried to move on from Karl-Anthony Towns. But one thing this team has never done is give up. There is a fiber to them that merits seeing this thing through. After losing to Houston and Oklahoma City in close games coming out of the break, the Wolves needed this one to show their fans that it’s not time to give up just yet.
“We kept fighting. The team fights. It always has,” Finch said. “We don’t always play the prettiest basketball, but it’s been fighting for a long, long time.” — Jon Krawczynski, senior writer
Finch’s moves finally paid off
Finch has come under criticism from some Wolves fans with the team struggling to regain the form it had last season on the way to the Western Conference finals. He has not always been able to find the right lineup combinations. He also owns part of the team’s clutch time woes.
But Finch made several huge decisions in the fourth quarter to help win this one. First, the Wolves started to blitz Gilgeous-Alexander to force the ball out of his hands early in the possession. They had deployed a similar strategy in their previous two wins over the Thunder, but Finch said he didn’t want to use the same approach at the start of this game because he figured OKC would be ready for it.
He finally went to it in the fourth, flustering the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander had only nine points on 3-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter and overtime. His teammates only scored 17 points during that time, allowing the Wolves to roar back.
Finch also decided to keep Edwards on the bench for much of the comeback. The Wolves star had struggled shooting in the game, including missing four free throws. Edwards used a therapeutic massager on his calf throughout the fourth quarter and felt good enough to get in for the final few minutes in overtime when he had that enormous block.
Like he rarely has this season, Finch rode the young players and it paid off for him in a big win. — Krawczynski.
McDaniels shines while offense struggles
While the rest of his team couldn’t buy a bucket for most of the night, McDaniels carried the offense. He showed more playmaking chops than he ever has.
Edwards and Reid couldn’t find their shooting touch, so McDaniels put it all on his slim shoulders. He made 9 of 16 shots and all nine free throws.
“I saw growth,” Reid said. “I was struggling, Ant was struggling. He was the only one getting to his spots, making shots and rebounding.”
McDaniels is often the fourth or fifth option on offense when the Wolves are fully healthy, but he is showing he is capable of much more. — Krawczynski
Required reading
(Photo: William Purnell / Getty Images)
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The highly anticipated 30th WNBA season tipped off Friday with three games, including the expansion Toronto Tempo’s first-ever contest.
The action continued Saturday with a full slate, including Caitlin Clark’s return after an injury-riddled sophomore season.
Clark and the Indiana Fever hosted the Dallas Wings on Saturday afternoon in a matchup featuring the four most recent No. 1 overall picks. The Wings outlasted the Fever 107-104, but the game was defined by Azzi Fudd’s — the most recent top pick — underwhelming debut.
Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers react during the first half of the Fever’s season opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on May 9, 2026. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Fudd played 18 minutes off the bench, scoring three points — the lowest ever by a No. 1 overall pick in a WNBA debut.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez addressed Fudd’s performance after the game, encouraging the rookie to, “Keep doing what she’s doing, it’s her first year in the league. We got five really talented backcourt players.”
EX-WNBA STAR CRITICAL OF SKY ROOKIE HAILEY VAN LITH, BELIEVES POPULARITY PLAYED ROLE IN DRAFT SELECTION
In addition to Fudd, Dallas’ backcourt features last year’s top draft pick Paige Bueckers, last season’s No. 12 overall pick Aziaha James, four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale and starting guard Odyssey Sims.
Until Saturday, Kelsey Plum held the record for the lowest-scoring debut by a No. 1 pick. Selected first overall by the then-San Antonio Stars in 2017, she scored just four points in her debut. The Stars relocated to Las Vegas in 2018 and was subsequently rebranded as the Aces.
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd warms up before the game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 9, 2026. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Despite the slow start to her first season in the league, Plum ended the year with All-Rookie team honors. In the years since, she’s been named to four All-Star teams and won two championships with the Aces.
The Wings’ decision to take Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick drew controversy, raising questions about whether Bueckers’ personal relationship with her influenced the selection. Late last month, Bueckers said last month it did not.
Azzi Fudd poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall by the Dallas Wings during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)
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“Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it, and it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, who she is as a basketball player,” Bueckers said, according to ESPN.
Neither Bueckers nor Fudd has publicly updated their relationship status since the April draft.
“Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own,” Bueckers also said in April. “And what we choose to share is completely up to us.”
Next up, the Wings play their home opener on Tuesday when they host the Atlanta Dream.
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The Lakers are one playoff defeat from their season being over and from the conversation turning to LeBron James’ future.
They are in a hole no team has climbed out of in the history of the NBA, the Lakers’ 131-108 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 putting L.A. down 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
James and his teammates gave a gallant effort Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, but the defending champion proved to be more than the Lakers could handle.
James finished his night with 19 points on seven-for-19 shooting, eight assists and six rebounds. Rui Hachimura had 21 points and Austin Reaves finished with 17 points and nine assists.
Even so, the Lakers have now lost all three games by double digits.
And the Lakers are fully aware that no NBA team has successfully come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs, with those teams holding a 161-0 record. Only four teams have forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0, all of which ultimately lost the series, including the Boston Celtics in 2023.
Lakers forward LeBron James shows frustration as Thunder center Chet Holmgren slam dunks during Game 3 on Saturday night.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Game 4 is Monday night, when the Lakers will try to stave off elimination and a night that will determine how the conversations go with James if they lose.
James has been frequently asked this season about retirement, but he has not given any indication of what the future holds for him.
He’s 41 years old and playing in an NBA-record 23rd season.
James is in the final year of his contract that pays him $52 million, making him a free agent this offseason. He can retire, join another team or perhaps return to the Lakers next season.
That will be the conversation if the Lakers can’t win Game 4.
They will see the same Thunder team that had seven players score in double figures, led by Ajay Mitchell’s 24 points and 10 assists and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 23 points and nine assists.
The Lakers went down 13 in the third quarter and had to play catchup the rest of the way. They never did, going down by 112-94 with 6 minutes and 12 seconds left, forcing Lakers coach JJ Redick to call a timeout.
The deficit just kept growing, topping out at 27 points in the fourth.
They were outscored 33-20 in the third quarter. The Lakers didn’t take care of the basketball in the third, turning it over six times, and they didn’t play good defense, allowing the Thunder to shoot 59.1% from the field and 55.6 percent from three-point range,
The Lakers did not give an inch to the Thunder in the first half, even when they fell behind by 10 points.
They just kept grinding until they led 59-57 at halftime.
Hachimura had 16 points in the first half, continuing his hot three-point shooting by making all four of his threes. Luke Kennard came off the bench to give the Lakers 13 points, shooting five for six from the field and three for four from three-point range.
The Lakers kept the pressure defense on Gilgeous-Alexander. Though he had 14 points in the first half, he shot only four for 14 from the field and one for five from three-point range.
The Lakers shot 55% from three-point range in the first half, which went a long way in helping them.
The Lakers lost the first two games by identical margins of 18 points and each loss was magnified because Gilgeous-Alexander was kept under wraps for the most part by L.A.’s defense.
When Gilgeous-Alexander picked up his fourth foul with 10:34 left in the third quarter of Game 2 and went to the bench, the Thunder turned a five-point lead into a 13-point advantage at the end of the quarter.
So, when he wasn’t on the court, the Lakers failed to take advantage.
“Well, you know, again, I’ll repeat what I said after the game: we’ve got to be better in the non-Shai minutes,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.
Role players like Mitchell and Jared McCain hurt the Lakers in the second game. Chet Holmgren also was hard to deal with.
“Mitchell and McCain have hurt us in those non-Shai minutes, and then Chet [Holmgren] has hurt us the whole game,” Redick said. “I think you’ve got to be willing to live with something. Shai playing one-on-one, thus far in the series, we haven’t been willing to live with, so you’re going to be in rotation. That can lead to smalls on bigs at the hole, and the offensive rebounding from Chet has really hurt us.”
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In 2025, Alex Palou kicked off the Month of May with a Sonsio Grand Prix win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Based on the odds, it’s likely that Palou will find himself in Winner’s Circle again this Saturday when INDYCAR goes back to IMS on May 9 (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
Considering Palou has already captured the checkered flag three times this season, are there any other drivers whose odds are worth a wager?
Here are the latest lines at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 9.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
Sonsio Grand Prix 2026
Àlex Palou: 5/18 (bet $10 to win $12.78 total)
Kyle Kirkwood: 5/1 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Pato O’Ward: 12/1 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
David Malukas: 14/1 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Josef Newgarden: 16/1 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Scott McLaughlin: 20/1 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Christian Lundgaard: 30/1 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Scott Dixon: 40/1 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Will Power: 60/1 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Felix Rosenqvist: 80/1 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Alexander Rossi: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Marcus Ericsson: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Marcus Armstrong: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Christian Rasmussen: 150/1 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Graham Rahal: 150/1 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Louis Foster: 300/1 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)
Dennis Hauger: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Romain Grosjean: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Santino Ferrucci: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Rinus Veekay: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Kyffin Simpson: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Caio Collet: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Sting Ray Robb: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Nolan Siegel: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Mick Schumacher: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Here’s what to know about the oddsboard:
Heavy Favorite: It doesn’t look like Alex Palou’s dominance will be slowing down anytime soon. As noted above, he’s already won three of the five races since the INDYCAR season started in March. With 186 laps led, Palou sits first in the standings and has the shortest odds to win the title again. Last season, he started from the pole and led 29 laps before winning the race.
Long Shot to Watch: While his odds of 150/1 to win at IMS are much longer than Palou’s, Graham Rahal is one to watch. At this race in 2025, he started second and led 49 laps before finishing sixth. He finished second at this course in 2015, 2020 and 2023. He’s currently 10th in the INDYCAR standings, with one top five and three top 10s.
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