Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Target Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Television: Bally Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live-tweets and discussion during the game
The Oklahoma City Thunder are going to look a lot more like their normal selves tonight as they are out on the road to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. After missing a chunk of the team due to health & safety protocols, pretty much everybody is back, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Timberwolves have been dealing with covid as well, but D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns are cleared of protocols, so if they’re conditioned well enough to play, then they will certainly be back in Minnesota’s starting lineup tonight.
The Thunder and the Timberwolves are two of the more youthful squads in the league, so this could be a fun battle from start to finish. Long gone are the days of Kevin Love vs. Kevin Durant (think March 23, 2012), but who knows? Perhaps a new rivalry will arise, and we’ll be witnesses to yet another high-scoring, multiple overtime affair between these two organizations.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Aaron Wiggins
- SF: Josh Giddey
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Isaiah Roby
Timberwolves
- PG: Patrick Beverley
- SG: D’Angelo Russell
- SF: Anthony Edwards
- PF: Jarred Vanderbilt
- C: Karl-Anthony Towns
Injuries
Thunder
- Luguentz Dort is OUT (sore left knee).
- Vit Krejci is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is OUT (health and safety protocols).
Timberwolves
- D’Angelo Russell is QUESTIONABLE (return to competition conditioning).
- Karl-Anthony Towns is QUESTIONABLE (return to competition conditioning).
- McKinley Wright IV is OUT (G League — Two-Way).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 36-14 against the Timberwolves (18-6 at home, 17-8 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the 4-game regular season series against the Timberwolves 9 times, lost it twice, and tied it twice.
- The Thunder went 2-1 (1-1 at home, 1-0 on the road) against the Timberwolves last season.
- The Thunder has won the last 4 matchups with the Timberwolves at Target Center.