Timberwolves Offer OKC Thunder Unique Challenge
The Thunder officially earned their first postseason win since 2020 on Wednesday night, downing the Pelicans in a thrilling contest to keep their Playoffs hopes alive.
On Friday, they’ll face a Minnesota Timberwolves team that will present a unique challenge to the current Thunder configuration.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert are both 7-foot plus and former All-Star talents, who have yet to really mesh this season but exude talent, nonetheless.
Despite having positional length at the guard spot with Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City’s front court is, by traditional standards, very small.
Firstly, they roll out rookie Jalen Williams to size all the way up to fours, defensively. Listed as a guard, Williams has held his own well this season with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, but it’s likely an unsustainable model moving forward. Nevertheless, that’s what they’re working with currently.
Primarily guarding the opposition’s starting center right now is another rookie: Jaylin Williams. At 6-foot-10, J-Will has more of the size to guard centers, but lacks traditional rim protection in a major way, opting for taking charges.
Outside of those two, 6-foot-10 forward Dario Saric is the only other healthy player even capable of matching up against bigs. And that’s usually not the matchup OKC wants.
On the flip side of the coin, Oklahoma City’s small-ball, five-out system could spell disaster for Gobert, specifically, who has been unplayable in the late stretch of playoff games more than once.
It’s a unique matchup, and one that both teams are undoubtedly looking forward to as we inch closer to 7-game series.
The Thunder and Timberwolves tip off at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, April 14 for an automatic Playoffs bid.
Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
