Wolves record: 9-34
Timberwolves guard Jonny Flynn missed a desperation jump shot at the final buzzer, and the Oklahoma City Thunder escaped with a 94-92 victory Wednesday night at Target Center.
Flynn’s miss capped a tense final 26 seconds in which neither team was able to score after three inbounds plays.
Forward Kevin Durant, the NBA’s third-leading scorer, led Oklahoma City (24-18) with a game-high 31 points.
Corey Brewer led the Wolves (9-34) with 25 points, two shy of his career high. Al Jefferson added 20 points and nine rebounds.
In return, Brewer answered with 25 points of his own — as well as six assists and five steals — that pushed the Wolves to the final moment. That’s when Jonny Flynn’s desperation three-pointer that would have won the game ticked the front of the rim at the final buzzer.
“That is the way I like to lose,” Wolves center Al Jefferson said. “If we’re going to lose, we’re going to go down fighting. We had many chances. We can’t walk out with our head down because that is a good team right there.”
Trailing by 10 points early in the fourth quarter and behind by eight with 2:13 left, the Wolves scored six consecutive points to pull within 94-92 with 41.5 seconds left but couldn’t score again.
At 94-92, the Wolves forced Oklahoma City to pass the rock to Westbrook and not allow Durant to touch the basketball. Westbrook drove inside the lane where Jefferson shifted over to take the charge. With 13 seconds left in the game, Jefferson shot another patent hook but missed front rim. A scrum for the loose ball occurred at the baseline of the Wolves side of the floor. Oklahoma City was able to call for a timeout and despite a reviewable type of situation for the referee crew; a second instant replay did not take place.
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Without Kevin Love for the second straight game, Jefferson did all the heavy lifting inside the paint. Jefferson recorded 20 points and nine boards in the losing effort. Love initially felt he could suit up for the contest at the morning shootaround but could not overcome an upper respiratory infection.
Brewer was busy all night, and not just with all the scoring. The guard was assigned to shadow Durant in the fourth quarter, and he held the NBA’s third-leading scorer without a point for more than six minutes.
“Corey takes a challenge. He likes it when you stick him on a guy and say, ‘Go shut him down,’ ” Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said. “Corey did a good job on him — Durant really had to work. We just couldn’t quite get there at the end.”
