The Thunder cut that deficit to three with just over 30 seconds left then made a great defensive stop to force a turnover and give themselves a chance to tie the game and send it into another overtime.

With 16.1 seconds left and trailing 129-126, James Harden inbounded from half court for the Thunder. The play had Kevin Durant set up at the right (near) elbow, Russell Westbrook on the far wing, Derek Fisher in the far corner and Nick Collison on the near block.

From this set up the Thunder could have done a number of things. Earlier in regulation, Durant already hit a three in the final seconds after isolating at the top of the key and taking Anthony Tolliver off the dribble. Minnesota was probably expecting that again.

Durant comes to the ball and receives the inbound from Harden. Instead of isolating his man, Durant hands back to Harden who takes his dribble to the top of the key as Durant fades to the right wing.

Collison comes up to set a back screen on Durant’s man who is playing him very close and isn’t in good position to see Collison coming until it is too late. Kevin Love, who is guarding Collison, has a lot of space between him. With Harden at the top of the key there is still a chance that the Thunder may be going for a quick two, so Love can’t sell out on helping Durant.

This is a mistake as Harden delivers a perfect feed to Durant in the corner and Love is late getting too him.

Standing at 7-foot tall, Durant only needs a moment to get a clean look at the rim and stroke the three that would tie the game and send it into another overtime.

I like this play by the Thunder mainly because of the fact that they actually ran a play instead of just relying on isolation scoring. With Harden coming to the top of the key and time still remaining for the possible quick two, the set was designed nicely for Minnesota to not really know what was coming.

Harden is very good at the type of pass he hit Durant with which is the same pass he signaturely pulls off on the OKC skip pass play between him and Daequan Cook. Westbrook may not have been the right guy to make that pass and was a better decoy threat on the opposite wing playing off the ball.

Brooks did a good job in the overtimes using Harden’s playmaking ability to help win this game. Harden and his passing is going to be a crucial ingredient for any type of playoff run the Thunder can potentially pull off later this year.

Kevin Love scored 51 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the Minnesota Timberwolves 149-140 loss in Oklahoma City Friday night.

It was a career-high for Love and franchise record amount of points. Love included in the 51 this game-tying trey he hit at the end of regulation to force the game into its first overtime.

Love’s 51 is the first time a white guy hit the mark since Dirk Nowizki in 2006 and the first time an American-born white player scored 50 since Tim Chambers back in 1990.

Love is turning into a one of a kind superstar in this league with the variety of talents that he brings to the floor every night. Sure, he’s doing it in Minnesota but the Timberwolves are already knocking at the door of the playoffs.

Who knows what Love’s ceiling may be but right now he’s at least the best power forward in the NBA.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 149-140 in double overtime in what might have been the best game in the NBA this season.

The Thunder won despite a career-high and franchise record 51 points from Kevin Love to go along with 14 rebounds and the game-tying three-point shot with 1.0 second left in regulation to send the game into its first overtime.

Oklahoma City got a career-high of 45 points out of Russell Westbrook and 40 points from Kevin Durant who also pulled down 17 rebounds in 52 minutes of action.

Durant dueled from deep with Love at the end of regulation and the first overtime. Before Love’s game-tying trey with a second left in regulation, Durant drilled a stepback bomb from straight away 25-feet to put the Thunder ahead 116-113.

The Thunder trailed by five with 46 seconds left of the first overtime following a breakaway dunk by Anthony Tolliver. Westbrook scored on a runner with 36 seconds left to cut the deficit to 129-126. Then Durant provided perfect pick-and-roll help defense on Love in the paint forcing a traveling violation.

With 10 seconds left, James Harden found Durant in the right corner for the game-tying three to send this game into another overtime.

It was all Thunder in the second overtime, outscoring Minnesota 20-11 with Westbrook leading the way. Russell refused to fatigue scoring nine points in the final overtime and everything coming from strong drives to the rim.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Down the stretch, Scott Brooks elected to go with Derek Fisher and Nick Collison alongside Durant-Westbrook-Harden. Fisher couldn’t buy a basket and was 2-for-11 from the floor and 1-for-5 on threes in the game. Collison plays hard but every now and then you can’t help but notice his undersized frame costing the Thunder on the 50-50 rebounds they easily consume via Serge Ibaka.

In the final overtime, the Thunder offense ran through Harden and executed with the same poetic feel that Harden brings to the floor every night. Harden put together a great all-around game tonight scoring 25 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.

It should be mentioned that in Ricky Rubio’s absence the Minnesota Timberwolves called upon 47 minutes of J.J. Barea tonight and he came through with his first career triple-double notching 25 points, 14 assists and 10 boards.

The Thunder have yielded many great box scores this regular season. It is yet to be decided if this is a good thing or not. One thing is certain and that is that the Thunder are the most exciting team in basketball this year.

Oklahoma City (36-12) is off tomorrow and then will square off in possibly their toughest test yet hosting the Miami Heat (35-11) Sunday night.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
107.2 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
99.9 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
95.8 Pace (5th)
57.1 True Shooting % (1st)
51.3 Rebound Rate (5th)

Timberwolves (1-game losing streak)
101.8 Offensive Efficiency (15th)
101.8 Defensive Efficiency (16th)
96.0 Pace (4th)
52.6 True Shooting % (14th)
51.0 Rebound Rate (8th)

The Thunder looked the best they have in awhile with their win over the Los Angeles Clippers two nights ago. It was also the first game that the Thunder suited up newly-acquired Derek Fisher.

Tonight it will be a Ricky Rubio-less Minnesota Timberwolves squad. The team has lost a lot of luster when Rubio went down with injury. Nikola Pekovic also will not be playing due to injury tonight.

It is the first meeting since opening night between these two teams.

Minnesota has won just two of their last eight games and it won’t get easier tonight in Chesapeake Arena. The Thunder haven’t won back-to-back games since March 5 and 7. They are due tonight.

In the first meeting Russell Westbrook had moments of openly mocking the defenders Minnesota was throwing at him. That was a different Westbrook who wasn’t playing the basketball he is now.

Westbrook will have a huge advantage on offense and this game should be one of those in which he roams around getting any look he wants. Westbrook’s jumper has been on point of late too so look for him to continue to look for that pull-up tonight.

I guess the Thunder are just really good because they probably have an advantage at every position tonight. Minnesota has no one that can give Kevin Durant too much trouble although the matchup with Michael Beasley is an interesting one since the two played high school ball together.

Without Pekovic the main focus down low will be on Kevin Love. Serge Ibaka should have the assignment of covering Love and will need to be focused to keep him off the glass.

A loss tonight would really be troubling for Thunder fans. They finally looked like they got their act together in their last game and the Clippers are a much better team than Minnesota. Expect a win tonight for the home team.