The Oklahoma City Thunder bounced back from their second loss of the season with a 122-101 victory at home over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. The Clippers jumped out to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter, but it wouldn’t last for long as OKC took a 9-point lead into halftime before blowing the game wide open in the third quarter. Now, OKC is headed to Minnesota, where they play the second game of a back-to-back against the Timberwolves.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have had an underwhelming start to their season, notching a 17-10 record so far. The Thunder and the Timberwolves met in OKC on November 26th—a 113-105 decision for the Thunder—to mark a third consecutive loss for Minnesota, but since then, the Timberwolves have won 7 of their last 9. Anthony Edwards has missed the last three games with a leg injury, and while he is questionable to play tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was good to go.
Despite it being a SEGABABA for OKC, the Thunder is an 8-point favorite. That was the exact margin of victory for OKC in the first meeting, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this game followed a similar tone: a defensive game that gets decided in the fourth quarter. The Thunder hasn’t had a lot of those close games, but when they have, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been consistent in showing up. Don’t be surprised if he takes over in yet another clutch situation.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 8:30 PM CT
Location: Target Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Television: Prime Video
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, Minnesota Timberwolves Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Jalen Williams
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Timberwolves
- PG: Donte DiVincenzo
- SG: Anthony Edwards
- SF: Jaden McDaniels
- PF: Julius Randle
- C: Rudy Gobert
Injury Report
Thunder
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Aaron Wiggins (right adductor soreness) is OUT.
- Jaylin Williams (right heel bursitis) is OUT.
- Chris Youngblood (G League — two-way) is OUT.
Timberwolves
- Joan Beringer (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Jaylen Clark (illness) is OUT.
- Mike Conley (tendinopathy in right Achilles) is OUT.
- Anthony Edwards (right foot injury management) is AVAILABLE.
- Enrique Freeman (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Rocco Zikarsky (G League — two-way) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 41-26 against the Timberwolves (21-12 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).
- OKC is 1-0 against Minnesota so far this season (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).