Thunder Gameday: Taking on the Surging Timberwolves

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look to bust the Minnesota Timberwolves’ five-game winning streak.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have the longest winning streak in the NBA currently at five games. On Wednesday night, they’ll look to make that six as the Oklahoma City Thunder come to town.

A depleted team, the Thunder are without nearly half of their 15-man roster. Nonetheless, Oklahoma City has the young talent to make any game interesting.

Nick Wosika / USA TODAY Sports

ODDS: 

The Thunder enter the day as 15-point underdogs to the Timberwolves, and the total over/under is 230 points.

KEYS TO THE GAME: 

Over the past month, the Timberwolves have the eighth-best offense and defense in the NBA. A well-rounded team, they’ve gone 8-4 over this stretch.

Currently sitting at seventh in the Western Conference standings, Minnesota would like to avoid the play-in tournament if possible. As such, the Wolves will be highly motivated on Wednesday night against the Thunder. They’re 2.5 games back of the Denver Nuggets for that sixth seed.

Overall, the Timberwolves are a big, physical team. The undersized Oklahoma City roster has been inconsistent against teams that have quite a bit of size this season.

The Thunder offense in general has struggled all season, but especially of late without Josh Giddey and Lu Dort. That leaves the team without two of its best three scorers.

In their absence, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has now scored at least 30 points in six of his last seven games. Since returning from injury, he’s been one of the best guards in the NBA.

RECORDS: 

Oklahoma City Thunder (20-45) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (37-29)

WHEN: 

Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 7:00 PM CT

LOCATION: 

Target Center, Minneapolis, MN

TV/RADIO: 

Bally Sports Oklahoma, NBA League Pass, 98.1 FM The Sports Animal

FINAL WORD: 

The Thunder announced on Tuesday that three players underwent season-ending surgery. Lu Dort, Ty Jerome and Mike Muscala will all miss the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign due to injury.

---

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.