The final game of the NBA Play-In Tournament this year will be played between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The winner of tonight’s game will earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and a matchup against the No. 1 seed Denver Nuggets. The loser will be heading into the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery.
The Thunder are coming into this game with a lot of momentum after defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 123-118 on Wednesday night. The Timberwolves, on the other hand, are coming in off a disappointing defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Minnesota led by as many as 15 points on Tuesday night before falling apart in the fourth quarter. They scored only 12 points in the final stanza, and three in the final six minutes, before only scoring four in overtime. That ultimately doomed them as the Lakers won 108-102.
What can we expect to see tonight? Here is all the information you need to watch the game in addition to some analysis and predictions for how things will turn out.
Date: April 14th, 2023
Time: 9:30 PM ET
Location: Target Center; Minneapolis, MN
TV Channel: ESPN
Radio: ESPNR, KMNB, WWLS
Injury Report For Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder Injury Report: Chet Holmgren – Out – Right Foot Surgery, Aleksej Pokusevski – Out – Left Knee Contusion, Kenrich Williams – Out – Left Wrist Scapholunate Ligament Surgery
Minnesota Timberwolves Injury Report: Rudy Gobert – Questionable – Back Spasms, Jaden McDaniels – Out – Right-Hand Fracture, Jaylen Nowell – Questionable – Left Knee Tendinopathy, Naz Reid – Out – Left Scaphoid Fracture, Karl-Anthony Towns – Questionable – Right Calf Strain
Expected Starting Lineups For Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder Expected Starting Lineup: G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G Josh Giddey, F Lu Dort, F Jalen Williams, C Jaylin Williams
Minnesota Timberwolves Expected Starting Lineup: G Mike Conley, G Anthony Edwards, F Taurean Prince, F Karl-Anthony Towns, C Rudy Gobert
Betting Odds For Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Thunder vs. Timberwolves Spread: Timberwolves -5.5
Thunder vs. Timberwolves Over/Under Total: 228.5 Total Points
Thunder vs. Timberwolves Moneylines: Thunder: +185, Timberwolves: -215
The biggest thing to watch for in this game is how the Timberwolves respond to Gobert being back in the lineup. He punched teammate Kyle Anderson in the regular season finale after some words were exchanged on the sidelines during a stoppage in play. It resulted in Gobert being suspended for the game against the Lakers.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS COVERAGE: Oklahoma City Thunder & Minnesota Timberwolves Updates
Will his return negatively or positively impact the team? There should also be some concern about Edwards, who isn’t on the injury report but seemed to be battling through a shoulder injury. He was nonexistent against the Lakers.
He is one of the bright rising stars that will be taking part in this game along with Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey. Those two are the foundational backbone of the Thunder along with Jal. Williams.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS COVERAGE: Oklahoma City Thunder & Minnesota Timberwolves Updates
With a young team playing with house money, the Thunder are ripe to pick off the Timberwolves. They entered the season with big expectations but don’t look like a team ready to play in the postseason. Injuries and chemistry issues will be too much to hold off a Thunder team riding all the momentum and a three-game winning streak.
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