Steven Adams' Oklahoma City Thunder have suffered a narrow 99-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves after a Ricky Rubio three-pointer with 0.02 seconds remaining.
Adams had one of his better games of the season and tied the scores at 96-96 with a putback after Kevin Durant's shot was blocked with 10.8 seconds left in the game.
The 22-year-old pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked four shots as well as scoring eight points in the game.
However he also coughed up the ball on a crucial possession when he was called for a moving screen which allowed Minnesota centre Karl-Anthony Towns to level the game at 94-all on the next possession.
Rubio's three-pointer capped an 11-4 comeback in the final two minutes with the Thunder leading 92-88 late in the fourth quarter.
The loss caps a disappointing stretch for the Thunder who have now lost seven of their last 10 games with their third place standing in the Western Conference threatened by the Los Angeles Clippers.
The last time the Timberwolves visited Oklahoma City, they were run out of the gym. In the 20-point loss, coach Sam Mitchell left his young stars on the floor till the final buzzer so they would learn to hate the feeling of losing.
"This was a big win for us," Andrew Wiggins said. "It's the first time we've beat them in a long time. It's huge. It'll do a lot for our confidence going into the next game."
Gorgui Dieng scored 25 points to lead the Timberwolves. He was seven of 12 from the field and 11 of 11 from the free-throw line. Wiggins scored 20 points and Ricky Rubio posted 12 assists and 13 points, including the game-winning three-pointer as the Timberwolves improved to 21-45 for the season.
"We just talked about it. We have got to start competing better against some of the better teams in the Western Conference," Mitchell said. "I'm proud of our guys.
Kevin Durant scored 28 points on 11 of 20 shooting for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook added 26 points and eight assists. Enes Kanter came off the bench to pour in 17 points and 14 rebounds. But it was not enough as the Thunder fell to 44-21.
Oklahoma City racked up 24 turnovers on the night and that led to 26 points. Durant, who had six turnovers himself, took the brunt of the blame.
"That's all on me," Durant said. "It's contagious. I'm the leader. Everyone expects me to be on my game every night. So I take full responsibility. I have to better at every part of the game."
In some of the other matches played earlier on Friday, Miami beat Chicago 118-96, Charlotte beat Detroit 118-103 and Memphis beat New Orleans 121-114 in overtime.
Newshub. / Reuters
