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The Oklahoma City Thunder travel to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in a win-or-go home game tonight. The prize for the winner will be a trip to Denver to take on the Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. While the Timberwolves won the regular-season series 3-1 against the Thunder, anything can happen here. You can see which sides handles the pressure better live on ESPN.
Check out our NBA predictions for all of the playoff games. But for now, take a look at my same game parlay below.
Oklahoma City Thunder ML (+176)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to score 40+ points (+380)
Parlay odds: +767
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Oklahoma City Thunder ML (+176)
The Oklahoma City Thunder pulled off an upset in their first play-in game against the New Orleans Pelicans. Tonight, they should have a great chance of doing so tonight against the Timberwolves. The home team could have a depleted frontline. Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert are both listed as doubtful to play. Naz Reid is also unavailable for the Timberwolves. Considering that the Thunders weakest area is on the inside, they should be well positioned to be competitive tonight.
Over the last 10 games of the regular season the Timberwolves were just 18th in offensive rating. With Luguentz Dort picking up Anthony Edwards, they will be well positioned to slow down the Timberwolves star. Edwards scored just 9 points in his last game against the Lakers and could similarly struggle. Mike Conley could have issues too dealing with the size and length of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey. The pair combined for 63-points in the last game and could torment the 35-year old Timberwolves guard. It is hard to see the Minnesota offense score enough points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to score 40+ points (+380)
Over the last 5 games Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 30 or more points on 4 occasions. Twice he came just a point shy of 40. With the Thunder’s season on the line and the star likely seeing more than 40 minutes of playing time, he will have a great chance to put together a big scoring night. SGA has enjoyed playing against the Timberwolves this season. He has been able to up his shooting percentages across the board compared to his season averages in the games against them.
Of the current Timberwolves starters, Conley has the worst defensive rating. That should make him a target and someone the Thunder could look to attack in isolation. With Gobert also potentially missing, he is unlikely to get much help if he gets beaten. Dennis Schroder dropped 21 points in the last Timberwolves game, up from his season average of 12.6. Gilgeous-Alexander could see a similar jump on his season average of 31.4 ppg.
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