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Oklahoma City Thunder
vs
Minnesota Timberwolves
Preview
The story so far
The Thunder begin the second half of their season with a dangerous team. The Timberwolves are only 9-33 but it's not due to a lack of talent. Between Al Jefferson and Kevin Love the Timberwolves have a solid young frontcourt. However a lot of growing pains can be expected when starting a rookie point guard. The Thunder found that out last season first hand. The Thunder wrapped up the first half of the season in the 8th seed if the playoffs started today due to tiebreakers. Wins over Utah and Memphis are key right now helping the Thunder hold on to the eight spot. The Thunder have done an excellent job of beating the teams they should this season, Minnesota definitely falls into that category so tonight should be a Thunder win.
The Matchups
Jonny Flynn v Russell Westbrook
Flynn is a nice scoring point guard. He is shooting 41% from the field and 34% from three. Not a very big rebounder and has a 4:3 assist to turnover ratio. Flynn is not going to hurt you much by finding open teammates but he can get into the lane and finish. Westbrook will need to stay in front of him and force him to make a couple of pull up jumpers unless Ibaka can get up and block some shots. Westbrook has regressed a little since his sterling play in December. He has been forcing passes and getting turnovers but continues to rack up assists and shot a decent percentage.
Edge
Corey Brewer v Thabo Sefolosha
Sefolosha should have a good game tonight. Sefolosha should be able to handle Wilkins, Gomes, Brewer, or Ellington with ease. On the offensive side hopefully he can cut to the basket and get some easy shots as the Wolves will likely concentrate most of their defensive attention on KD.
Edge
Damien Wilkins v Kevin Durant
A homecoming of sorts for Wilkins, this will be his first game against his former teammates and his first game in OKC as a member of the Timberwolves. Wilkins will not be likely to guard Durant that honor will likely be given to Brewer. Whoever gets the call is unlikely to have much of an impact on Durant's game.
Edge
Ryan Gomes v Jeff Green
Green vs Gomes is a matchup that should favor the Thunder. Gomes doesn't have the athleticism to matchup with Green and really lacks the power to score in the low post against Green. Green should be able to drive the lane and outrebound Gomes with ease.
Edge
Al Jefferson v Nenad Krstic
Jefferson is one of the best young centers in the NBA. Jefferson averages almost 20 and 10 right now. This will be an interesting matchup between Jefferson and whoever the Thunder throw at him. Collison will probably get most of the minutes early on but if this game gets out of hand we might see Mullens against Jefferson. Krstic had his touch against the Hawks he put up 16 points on 11 shots and pulled down 7 rebounds.
Edge
Bench v Bench
With Kevin Love out Gomes steps into the starting lineup which weakens an already weak bench even further. Brian Cardinal will probably get some minutes tonight he plays power forward just not very well. Ramon Sessions is the backup point guard he is a solid contributor and takes care of the ball. Wayne Ellington is another rookie out of North Carolina, he is capable of scoring some points when given the opportunity.
Between Collison and Ibaka the Thunder have two solid options down low for rebounding and scoring. Collison has the more polished offensive game but Ibaka has the athleticism to block shots and defend the rim in ways Nick just can't. Harden is not afraid to shoot and most nights he is going to put some points on the board now the Thunder just need to work with him on shot selection. Eric Maynor continues to be impressive he is shooting about 30% from three and averages 3 assists a game and only 1 turnover.
Edge
The Prediction
The Thunder will come out early and play solid defense and build a lead. Hopefully they continue to play hard and can put the Wolves away early. The Thunder are just too deep for the Wolves.
Thunder win 98-85
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