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The NBA season will continue with games on Wednesday. The Oklahoma City Thunder will travel to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. It's time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Thunder-Timberwolves prediction and pick.
These two teams have both had somewhat disappointing starts to the season. The Oklahoma City Thunder 13-23 and are coming off yet another loss. While the Minnesota Timberwolves have only been slightly better with a record of 17-20, but are coming off a very solid win. This should be an interesting game between two of the lower-tier teams in the league.
Here are the odds for the Thunder-Timberwolves Wednesday night NBA matchup, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Thunder-Timberwolves Odds
Oklahoma City Thunder: +9 (-110)
Minnesota Timberwolves: -9 (-110)
Over: 217 (-110)
Under: 217 (-110)
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Why The Thunder Could Cover The Spread
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The Oklahoma City Thunder have been very disappointing this season. Through their first 36 games, they have only managed to win 13 and have lost 23. They are coming off a nine-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The Thunder will look to turn things around on Wednesday as they face a solid Minnesota team. While COVID and injuries have certainly affected this team, they will need to battle on Wednesday. This is a winnable game for OKC, they just need to show up ready.
In their loss to the Mavericks, the Thunder were behind in nearly every statistic. There is no one clear reason why they lost, rather they were just beaten across all statistics. Scoring was close for all quarters, except the second where the Thunder only scored 17 points. 17 points in a quarter is unacceptable and if OKC wants to actually win games they need to start scoring. They only scored 86 points in the whole game. The Thunder will need to step things up on Wednesday if they want to get the win.
The Thunder are actually nearly unaffected by COVID and injuries right now. While they had to deal with plenty of adversity earlier in the season, they currently only have two players listed on the injury report. Most notably, Luguentz Dort will be out for Wednesday’s contest. This is not an encouraging sign for OKC, but they still need to step things up. Their roster is young and kind of all over the place, so they need to start proving that they can come together and win games. Wednesday will serve as another test and opportunity for the Thunder to improve as a team.
Why The Timberwolves Could Cover The Spread
The Minnesota Timberwolves have also been somewhat disappointing this season. Through their first 37 games, they have a losing record with only 17 wins and 20 losses. However, the Wolves are coming off a solid 18 point victory over the LA Clippers. Minnesota was without KAT and DLo and they were still able to score a dominant win. That was a very encouraging sight and fans should feel optimistic about Wednesday’s matchup. With or without two of their best players, Minnesota showed that they can compete.
Minnesota dominated across the board in their win over Los Angeles. The Wolves took 15 more shots than LA and made 10 more. Minnesota also made five more threes than the Clippers. The Wolves just put on an offensive clinic and LA was unable to keep pace. They also had a big edge in assists, dishing out 34 compared to LA’s 22. That game was a very solid outing from Minnesota and if they can bring that same level of play to Wednesday’s game then they should have no problem getting the win. However, there are some things that are beyond players' control, namely injuries, which will certainly have an impact on this game.
While COVID is a big concern in the league, injuries are currently proving more detrimental to Minnesota. Both Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell are game-time decisions on Wednesday. The two stars in Minnesota were unavailable in the Timberwolves' last game. In their absence, Anthony Edwards did a good job of picking up the slack last game, but missing both KAT and DLo is devastating. If neither of them play, then this Minnesota team will need to step things up in the same way they did against the Clippers.
Final Thunder-Timberwolves Prediction & Pick
This is a really interesting pick. The Thunder have been one of the worst teams in the league, yet Minnesota's injuries are devastating. Being without both KAT and DLo could easily leave room for the Thunder to take over in this game. However, whether or not they play, the Wolves have shown extreme resiliency in their last game as they took down the Clippers. It's very encouraging to see the other roster members in Minnesota step up when they need to. Given all of this, pick the Timberwolves to win and cover.
FINAL THUNDER-TIMBERWOLVES PICK: Minnesota Timberwolves -9 (-110)
FINAL THUNDER-TIMBERWOLVES SCORE PREDICTION: Timberwolves 115 – Thunder 98
