Thunder take 3-1 lead as SGA drops 40 on Wolves

MINNEAPOLIS -- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a steely performance befitting the NBA MVP, and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped back from a 42-point loss by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-126 in Game 4 on Monday night to take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference finals.

Jalen Williams scored 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range, and Chet Holmgren added 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for OKC in a statement game in his hometown that helped the Thunder stave off several pushes by the Wolves to tie the series.

"They got to their spots and they rose up and made shots over us," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said of Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams. "But we've got to do a better job of trying to contain that first dribble like we did in Game 3, a much better job there."

Gilgeous-Alexander went 12-for-14 from the free throw line, making a pair with 6.1 seconds left to stretch the lead back to three points. The Thunder then fouled Anthony Edwards with 3.5 seconds to go, and his intentional miss of the second free throw to try to keep possession was tracked down in the corner by Gilgeous-Alexander and flung out of bounds in attempt to drain the clock.

"It's fun. It's up there with being at home," Gilgeous-Alexander said when asked about silencing the crowd on the road. "It's your job to go out there and play basketball and shut them up."

The Wolves had one more inbounds pass with 0.3 seconds remaining that Williams intercepted to send the Thunder back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Wednesday with the chance to advance to the NBA Finals.

"They outplayed us, outrebounded us. Got more of the 50-50 balls," Edwards said of the Thunder. "They wanted it a little more."

Edwards was limited to 16 points, and Julius Randle (five points on 1-for-7 shooting) also was bottled up by the Thunder's relentless defense.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.