After a blowout victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder continues their historic start to the 2025-26 season with an NBA Cup game at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday evening. OKC is 2-0 in group play so far, and Minnesota is 2-1. The winner of this one has a good shot at winning the group, so depending upon how the NBA Cup is truly viewed by the players, this game could be considered slightly more important than a typical regular-season game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in danger of missing his first contest of the season as he’s listed on the injury report as questionable with an illness, and Jalen Williams (wrist surgery recovery) and Aaron Wiggins (strained left adductor) are still out, while the Timberwolves are completely healthy. Despite being at full strength, Minnesota has struggled their way to a 10-7 start, losing the last two due to late-game collapses.
Regardless of how the season has gone so far for either team, the history in these matchups points towards an exciting game. Anthony Edwards is one of the league’s most exciting young players, and Minnesota has solid depth. Still, OKC is the reigning champ, and nobody knows as much about depth as the Thunder. Hopefully SGA is well enough to give it a go, but if he’s not, you can bet on everybody else on the roster stepping up to pick up the slack.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 6 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: ESPN
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Portland Trail Blazers Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Timberwolves
- PG: Anthony Edwards
- SG: Donte DiVincenzo
- SF: Jaden McDaniels
- PF: Julius Randle
- C: Rudy Gobert
Injury Report
Thunder
- Brooks Barnhizer (G League — two-way) is PROBABLE.
- Branden Carlson (G League — two-way) is PROBABLE.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (illness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Aaron Wiggins (strained left adductor) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (right wrist surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Kenrich Williams (left knee surgical recovery) is OUT.
Timberwolves
- Enrique Freeman (face mask) is AVAILABLE.
- Rocco Zikarsky (G League — two-way) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 40-26 against the Timberwolves (20-12 at home, 20-14 on the road) and 4-1 in the Playoffs (3-0 at home, 1-1 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 4 times, and tied it 4 times.
- The Thunder went 2-2 against the Timberwolves in the 2024-25 regular season (1-1 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- OKC defeated Minnesota 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals (3-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).