MINNEAPOLIS — When last seen at Target Center, the Timberwolves were losing large leads in the second half in their playoff loss to Memphis.
In Wednesday's opener, the Wolves let a double-digit lead turn into a deficit in the third quarter against Oklahoma City.
But they did enough down the stretch for a 115-108 victory over the Thunder.
Their new acquisition, Rudy Gobert, saved them from themselves on multiple occasions, including with a buzzer-beat bucket in the third quarter and a key tip in of a D'Angelo Russell miss with 2 minutes, 55 seconds to play to give the Wolves a 107-103 lead. Gobert finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 for the Thunder.
The night seemed firmly in the Wolves' control during the third quarter when they were ahead 76-60 with 7 minutes, 57 seconds to play, but after that, bad habits started to creep in. Bad ball movement, turnovers (six in the quarter) added up to a 3 minute, 47 second scoring drought.
The Thunder kept pressing and took a 87-81 lead as boos started to emerge in the building, but the Wolves got the act together just enough in the fourth to prevent an embarrassing loss on opening night to a team projected to finish near the bottom of the Western Conference.
All five Wolves starters finished in double figures with Russell scoring 20. Karl-Anthony Towns scored just 12 points on 2-for-10 shooting, while Anthony Edwards finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
