By Matias Grez, CNN

(CNN) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander enjoyed arguably the best playoff game of his career to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 128-126 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves and to within one game of the NBA Finals.

After suffering a 42-point beatdown in Game 3, the Thunder led the Timberwolves for the vast majority of a tight Game 4, never trailing after the opening seven minutes.

Oklahoma City’s lead grew to 11 at the start of the third quarter – the largest lead of the night for either team – and, behind Gilgeous-Alexander’s blistering offensive display, managed to hold off a couple of late runs from the T-Wolves.

Newly crowned MVP Gilgeous-Alexander was close to a triple-double in a stellar all-around performance, posting a career playoff-high 40 points to go with nine rebounds and another career postseason-high 10 assists.

“We did a good job of staying in the moment tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said afterwards. “We obviously had a bad taste in our mouth from the last game, and we just wanted to control the things that we could control tonight.

“I think staying in the moment was the best way to do so. We could have been better tonight for sure. Tonight wasn’t perfect, but we gave ourselves a chance … and we got a W.”

Jalen Williams continues to show why he is one of the best No. 2s in the league with an efficient 34 points, five assists and three steals, while Chet Holmgren added another 21 points for the Thunder.

For Minnesota, it was another quiet night for young superstar Anthony Edwards who has struggled this series against the many looks of Oklahoma’s defense.

Edwards lamented after Game 1 that he only “took 13 f**king shots,” before doubling his shot attempts for Game 2. However, in Minnesota’s Game 3 blowout, Edwards’ attempts were down at 17 and then back down to 13 for Game 4.

Edwards finished with 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting, including 1-of-7 from three-point range.

After bouncing back in Game 3 from a poor Game 2 showing, Julius Randle struggled again in Game 4 and finished with a career playoff-low five points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Minnesota was kept in the contest by 22 points from starting forward Jaden McDaniels and 23 and 21 points, respectively, from Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo off the bench.

“I don’t really look at it like I struggled,” Edwards said postgame. “I didn’t get enough shots to say I struggled, so that might be how you guys look at it. But, yeah, I didn’t struggle at all. I just made the right play.”

Randle said he thought his own performance was “a lot of me just spectating.”

“I got to figure out a way to get myself involved in actions,” Randle added. “I think I didn’t take my first shot in the second half until there were 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

“I got to figure out a way to get myself in position to be more aggressive, rather than just standing, spectating or trying to crash the glass.”

The series returns to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Wednesday when the Thunder will be bidding to make a first Finals appearance since 2012.

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