Sunday night serves another national look at the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder and MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They take an “Up North Trip” to duel with Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves, who convincingly won this matchup just 10 days ago.
How to watch Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves
A goal for Oklahoma City down the stretch: Keep rolling with that Chet Holmgren-Isaiah Hartenstein pairing. The 7-foot-1 Holmgren is putting up big numbers in blocks and steals in his four games back from a pelvic fracture. The 7-footer Hartenstein has the best defensive rating of his career and is second to Gilgeous-Alexander in win shares per 48 minutes. Did the NBA’s best defense really get taller, stronger and more flexible? Sheesh. This duo is a perfect modern frontcourt for OKC’s whirring perimeter defense.
For Minnesota: Do it again. The Wolves looked fantastic in their last meeting with the juggernaut Thunder, beating them by 15 points on Feb. 13. Naz Reid had 27 points, 14 boards and seven dimes, while Anthony Edwards made 10 free throws. They held an efficient OKC offense to just 7-for-29 from behind the arc, and enjoyed nice bench turns from rookies Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham. After this stretch, the schedule lets up significantly. Another convincing win over the best in the West could be corner-turning material.
Zach Harper on SGA’s MVP candidacy:
- OKC has a 121.5 offensive rating with him on the floor. Perspective: That would be second behind Cleveland.
- OKC has a 105.2 offensive rating with him off the floor. Perspective: That would be worse than Washington.
- The Thunder are plus-18.4 per 100 with SGA on the floor, plus-0.4 with him off the floor. That’s an 18.0-per-100-possessions difference.
- Not quite Nikola Jokić, but I’m not sure people realize how regular the Thunder have been without SGA out there. They’ve been historically dominant as a team with him.
- He would be the fourth player to average at least 32 points, six assists and five rebounds. Luka Dončić, Michael Jordan and James Harden have each done it twice.
- He’s the only player to average 32-6-5 with at least 1.5 steals and one block. Ever.
If SGA wins the MVP award, it should not be because of voter fatigue. It should be because he’s historically dominant in a different way.
Offensive identity checks from Law Murray:
Oklahoma City
- Pace — 8th
- Pick and roll frequency — 8th
- Drive frequency — 2nd
- Passes — 24th
Minnesota
- Pace — 25th
- Pick and roll frequency — 14th
- Drive frequency — 10th
- Passes — 18th
Starting five of players to wear both jerseys:
- Sebastian Telfair
- Kevin Martin
- Corey Brewer
- Dario Šarić
- Taj Gibson
(Photo of Anthony Edwards: Gary Dineen / Getty Images)
