Thunder-Timberwolves play-in game: Everything you need to know
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Timberwolves missed their shot to secure a playoff appearance by losing to the Lakers on Tuesday, but they have another shot Friday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The winner of Friday's game will become the 8th seed in the NBA playoffs and take on the top-seeded Denver Nuggets, led by potential thrice consecutive MVP Nikola Jokic.
Here are top storylines heading into the last-chance matchup between the Timberwolves and Thunder.
THUNDER TOP PELICANS
While the Wolves are coming off a loss and hoping their second chance turns out better, the Thunder are riding high after a win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
The Thunder, who entered the game as the 10th-ranked Western Conference team, beat the Pels 123-118 thanks to a pair of 30-plus point performances from Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Wolves and Thunder played each other four times this season, with Minnesota going 3-1. The Wolves averaged nearly 118 points a game in those matchups, higher than their season average of 115.8. The Thunder, meanwhile, averaged almost 115 points per game, which was below their season average of 117.5, and also slightly lower than what the Wolves gave up on a per game basis (also 115.8, curiously enough).
The Wolves were missing both Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert for one of the three wins. Speak of the devil...
RUDY RETURNS
Gobert will return from his one-game suspension against the Thunder. He missed the Lakers loss after throwing a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson in the last game of the regular season.
The Wolves could've used Gobert's defense in Tuesday's game. They led the Lakers by as much as 15 points in the third quarter before allowing the Lakers to claw back and eventually win in overtime.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year will need to show up big in the paint, where Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey scored 30 of their combined 63 points against the Pelicans.
KAT AND ANT
Like most Wolves wins, this one may come down to the performances of their two stars: Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.
KAT had an excellent first half against the Lakers, scoring 17 points and logging a +23 in his time on the court. But after getting into foul trouble in the second half, he disappeared, going scoreless in the fourth quarter and overtime.
"He was in a heck of a rhythm until they whistled him to the bench," head coach Chris Finch said postgame.
Edwards was off all game, tallying just 9 total points in almost 43 minutes.
"They trapped him, they put two on him," Finch said. "He didn't get anything easy."
If Towns can repeat and sustain his performance from the first half against the Lakers, and Edwards can turn things around, the Wolves should be able to score on the Thunder, whose defensive rating was middle of the league this season.
Tipoff is at 8:30 Friday night at Target Center.
