Wolves wobble as Thunder roar to victory

Shai pushes OKC to brink of NBA Finals

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NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a masterpiece performance to power Oklahoma City over Minnesota 128-126 on Monday, lifting the Thunder to the brink of the NBA Finals.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff career-high 40 points and added 10 assists and nine rebounds to spark the Thunder, who took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals series with game five to come tonight (tomorrow morning, Thai time) at Oklahoma City.

“You know how close you are but you're still so far away,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

“Play to our identity on both ends of the floor. If we do that we'll be just fine. If not, it could get ugly.”

Jalen Williams added 34 points with 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range and Chet Holmgren contributed 21 for the Thunder.

“They were amazing,” said Gilgeous-Alexander.

“They were confident. They weren't rattled by the moment... I'm nothing but proud of these two.”

The Thunder have not reached the NBA Finals since losing to Miami in 2012 while the T-Wolves have never reached the championship series.

Reserves Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo sparked Minnesota with 23 and 21 points respectively, while Jaden McDaniels added 22.