The Oklahoma City Thunder need some victories, and fast, but won’t be having an easy way with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who come to take away the win with their young and extremely talented team. It’s a treat of the night, so don’t miss out on a chance to earn money on it as well.
Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder
Spread: Oklahoma City -5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: over/under 211 points (-110)
The Wolves dominate Pelicans, go 2-0 for the season against them
The Minnesota Timberwolves prized center Karl-Anthony Towns was adamant to prove he’s more than the first game against the towering duo of Davis and Cousins showed, but Wednesday’s game wasn’t much better for him than the previous one. However, the result was all the same. The Wolves won again, 120-102, in another reversal of a form.
The Wolves went to Butler and Wiggins, exploiting the Pelicans weakness at the wing, and it gave them better results than they would have hoped for. Wiggins was 10-of-18 for 28 points and added 8 rebounds and five assists, while Butler scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lead their team. Towns struggled with foul trouble yet again, playing just 20 minutes. He tried hard to make a mark in this game during his court time, so he accumulated 11 points, 10 boards, and 6 turnovers. Gorgui Dieng stepped in admirably for him – he had 19 points (8-of-13 FGs), 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals subbing Towns. The Wolves have shot 58 percent as a team and had 30 assists on their 47 field goals. Thanks to an all-around determination to keep the Pelicans to just one shot, they’ve outrebounded their foes 44-28. Like I’ve suggested in my preview for this game, a team that would control the glass would win the game, and the Wolves did just that. They were shorthanded, too, not having Bjelica and Teague, but thanks to Tyus Jones excellent play, the latter is quickly becoming almost irrelevant. The young backup point finished with 16 points, 6 dimes and had another 4 steals – over the last three game that he plays extended minutes, he had 15 steals. The Wolves controlled the score throughout the second half, and the closest the Pelicans could come was -10.
Both injured players remain in question for the next game. They are working with the team and are thus very close, so I’m giving them both 60-40 odds that they play against Thunder. Minny returns north to play L.A. Clippers next.
Place: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Date/Time: Friday, December 1st, 2017. 8:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: FSN, NBATV
OKC can’t fight off the road demons in Orlando
Time. That’s what is supposed to heal the Thunder problems. Then again, it’s already been a quarter of a season played, and if anything the time has done to this team, it’s that they are playing worse than before. At 8-12 after a 108-121 loss to the Magic, Oklahoma City needs to start winning in bunches to catch-up with the packed West.
The Thunder can’t seem to learn from defeats. When you repeat the same things hoping to get a different result, you don’t look too smart. Westbrook once again dominated the ball, and his pair of highly paid, ex-All Star turned 3pt specialists don’t give a damn about the franchise, looking to keep their suitcases packed in case their agent calls. All three are super happy to take any shot available, and guess what, some of them do drop in the basket. The trio shot 23-of-56 (41 percent), only slightly better than the rest of the team (15-of-40). The Thunder also missed 10 of their 30 attempts from the line, and forgot to play any defense. The Magic turned on their berserk shooting mode and hit 59.2 percent of their shot, and the Thunder player fell into the trap of trying to match their opponent’s three-point output. Westbrook actually had one of his best outside shooting nights of his entire career, going 7-of-10 on threes en course to scoring 37 points. His two-pointers weren’t there though, as he finished with just 4-of-13 inside the arc. He also had 7 turnovers. The Thunder had just 17 assists for the game – a testament of selfish iso play.
Westbrook is battling a bruised left hand and his status for Friday’s contest against the Timberwolves is in question, but he always wants to give the impression of being a warrior, so I believe he’ll play. The Thunder stay in Oklahoma for their next three games, before playing five of the next six on the road.
Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder Game Trends & Prediction
Minnesota finally covered the spread, breaking a streak of six games in which they’ve gone without one. They are 9-11-2 this season overall and 5-5-1 away from home. There are no significant trends to dwell on when it comes to total points – the Wolves are 10-11 against the over/under.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s ATS record is matching their actual win/loss ratio at 8-12, so they are not a good team to bet on. They covered only once in the last six games, against the Warriors (or, I should say, against Durant). As much as they are overrated in regards to their quality, they’ve even more overrated when it comes to scoring. So far, the Thunder were 7-13 against the over/under, and 3-6 at home.
Admi-Rank: Even with the recent disappointing results, the Thunder shouldn’t be disregarded. If the books overrate them it’s fine, but don’t underestimate this team, they are still better than average. The Wolves are close by, but their form chart looks more like an electrocardiogram, and until they find more consistency, they’ll look ahead to the best Western teams.
Teams have already played twice this season, with Minnesota taking both games in the clutch. Both were high-scoring affairs in which the Thunder almost failed to lead and never managed to create any separation. The Wolves were playing with the full roster, and the Thunder leader still tried to defer to his teammates, still trying out that strange tactics called sharing the ball, but a month of balling changed things. Both sides can still score, no doubt, but only if the threes are falling for them, and that not a given.
The books continue to fade the Thunder, setting the spread to 5 points at the opening of the market, and while the public would surely jump on it on the premise that the jolly plays better at home, I don’t see this closing at more than +4.5 for Minnesota, Teague or no Teague. To go double, I’m also swallowing the bait on the overs. Yes, that’s exactly what the books are wanting us to go after here, but it just can’t shed the looks of the two previous meetings and the points galore.
My Pick: Minnesota +5 (-110)
Total: Over 211 points (-110)
