The Oklahoma City Thunder ended the New Orleans Pelicans’ season in the 9-10 play-in game Wednesday night, setting the stage for the bright lights inside Target Center in an elimination game between the Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
The winner will be awarded with the eighth seed in the Western Conference and a first-round playoff series against the No. 1 Denver Nuggets.
- Game 1: Sunday, April 6 at Denver, 9:30 p.m. on TNT
- Game 2: Wednesday, April 19 at Denver, 9 p.m. on TNT
- Game 3: Friday, April 21 at MN or OKC, 8:30 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 4: Sunday, April 23 at MN or OKC, 8:30 p.m. on TNT
- Game 5: Tuesday, April 25 at Denver, time and TV are TBD
- Game 6: Thursday, April 27 at MN or OKC, time and TV are TBD
- Game 7: Saturday, April 29 at Denver, time TBD, TV is TNT
How have the Timberwolves fared against the Thunder this season? Minnesota went 3-1 against them during the regular season but they haven’t played each other in nearly four months.
- Oct. 19: OKC 108, Minnesota 115
- Oct. 23: Minnesota 116, OKC 106
- Dec. 3: OKC 135, Minnesota 128
- Dec. 16: Minnesota 112, OKC 110
Why OKC can’t be overlooked: Since Dec. 16, the Wolves and Thunder have identical 29-25 records.
Their first meeting was the season opener, when Karl-Anthony Towns was still recovering from an illness that caused him to lose a bunch of weight. It was also the first game with Towns and Rudy Gobert on the floor together.
The second game can be thrown out with the trash because OKC didn’t have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed the game with a bruised hip.
The third meeting featured Minnesota without Towns, who had seriously injured his calf just five days earlier. And the Wolves also lost Rudy Gobert to an ejection in the first half, so they definitely weren’t playing with a full deck.
And in the fourth game, the Timberwolves won despite missing Towns (calf), Gobert (sprained ankle) and D’Angelo Russell (bruised knee).
Throw in the fact that Russell is gone and Mike Conley is in the lineup, plus the Wolves are without Jaden McDaniels (broken hand) and the dynamics of Friday’s elimination game render everything that happened previously almost 100% meaningless.
Since Dec. 16, the Wolves and Thunder are identical 29-25 records.
