The Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder have recently gained acquaintances with each other.
The team will square for the third time in four games and the second night in a row when they meet on Monday in Oklahoma City. This will be their last collision of the season.
Thunder won Sunday night’s matchup in Minneapolis 130-123 behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 37-point, eight-Rebound, eight-assistant performance.
Thunder surpassed Timberwolves 25-13 after Gilgeous-Alexander entered the game with eight minutes left.
Of course, it wasn’t just Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday. Just as it has not been for Oklahoma City’s so far dominant season on top of the Western conference.
On Sunday, there were also three 3-quarters 3-points from Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren’s three blocks at the edge and seven players with several assist-in other factors.
“The depth that we have right now is a positive thing,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “There will be different players at different nights. We all need. There has obviously been a more limited rotation of these two games at the break, but that will not be the case for all 25 matches.”
While Thunder Defense has been the team’s phone card all season, Sunday was not up to the standards that Daigneult has set for his club.
“We have to get a little better tomorrow,” Daigneault said after Sunday’s game.
Oklahoma City enters Monday’s game with an NBA best 104.8 defensive rating points allowed per 100 possessions. Thunder has a Western Conference best 46-10 record.
“It is a tough team to play, Oklahoma City. They are very, very physical at one end and at the other end they seem to be very contact offensively and benefit from it,” said Timberwolves coach Chris Finch. “It may be frustrating, but we just have to try to make the next game.”
It is unclear if Holmgren will play Monday. He has not yet played both nights in a back-to-back since returning from a pelvic fracture February 7.
While Oklahoma City may be without Holmgren, Timberwolves continues to become even more concise.
Rudy Gobert has missed the last three games with rear spasms. Donte Divincenzo (Toe Sprain) and Julius Randle (groin trunk) have missed significant time, although both Divincenzo and Randle are approaching a return. Divincenzo and Randle have not played since January 15 and January 31.
Minnesota’s Jaylen Clark was also knocked out of the game on Sunday after a hard fall during the third quarter of him the rest of the way with neck pain.
Finch said after the match that he did not have an update on Clark’s status for Monday’s game.
Oklahoma City has won nine of its last 10 in total, its only loss in that route will be 116-101 in Minnesota on February 13 in the team’s playoffs before the All-Star break.
Timberwolves have lost four of the last five games. They go into the game in seventh place in the Western Conference, a game of an automatic playoffs.
The competition on Monday is the first of a four-match road trip for Timberwolves, who will play seven of its next nine away.
For Thunder, the game is the lonely home game in the middle of a pair of three-game roads.
The Minnesota Anthony Edwards has taken up two technical fouls in two matches since the All-Star break and has 14 in the season to move within two from having an automatic suspension with a game.
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