OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder ended another close loss with a bit of a referee controversy.

A few moments near the end saw the Thunder crowd groan and get audibly upset, but the loudest reaction was a Eugene Omoruyi loose ball foul on Naz Reid during an inbound pass with 4.2 seconds left.

“The fact that they got together and conferenced [to] discuss it was good,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said when asked about the late inbound situation that resulted in the Omoruyi foul.

Instead of a potential scramble for a loose ball in a two-point game, Reid was awarded a trip to the freethrow line that grew their lead to three points.

The shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves were able to hold on and defeat the Thunder, 112-110, in a game that saw eight lead changes and eight ties. The Thunder finishes its regular season series against the Timberwolves with losses in three of four games.

Here are three other thoughts from the Thunder’s two-point loss to the Timberwolves: No Karl-Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobert, no problem The Timberwolves entered Friday’s game without two of its best players in Towns and Gobert. The former continues to miss time with a calf strain while the latter was ruled out 90 minutes before the game due to an ankle sprain.

Luckily for the Timberwolves, they were able to play a team that was also depleted in the Thunder, who were missing Kenrich Williams, Ousmane Dieng, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and — of course — Chet Holmgren.

Without Towns or Gobert, Reid and Nathan Knight stepped up in their absence. Reid finished with 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Knight scored 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting in 11 minutes.

Austin Rivers also had a big scoring night, finishing with 20 points and hit a big 3 to expand the Timberwolves’ lead to four points late in the game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to shine Gilgeous-Alexander had another great performance against the Timberwolves, finishing with 35 points on 11-of-23 shooting, seven rebounds and five assists. Gilgeous-Alexander continues to make a living at the charity stripe, making 10-of-12 attempts.

Gilgeous-Alexander did most of his scoring damage in the third quarter, where he scored a career-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Dieng out, Lu Dort injured The Thunder announced Thursday that rookie forward Dieng suffered a non-displaced fracture on his right wrist and will miss at least six weeks. Dieng sustained the injury on Wednesday during a G League game.

Dieng also suffered a fracture on the same wrist this past July during the 2022 Summer League. The 19-yearold was selected 11th overall in the first round of the 2022 NBA draft. In 14 games with the Thunder, Dieng is averaging 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds.

In the third quarter, Dort landed awkwardly while contesting a shot. Dort took a while to get up before eventually exiting the game. The Thunder later ruled Dort out for the rest of the game with a right-hand sprain.