Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Christmas Day Preview
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City
When: Sunday, December 25, 2016, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Minnesota Timberwolves (+5) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (-5) – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
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Betting on the Minnesota Timberwolves (9-20)
The young Timberwolves are simply lagging in the Western Conference but they still have lots of time to recover. Speaking of recovering, they will look to get back at Russell Westbrook and the Thunder in a rematch on Christmas Day.
Minnesota lost a road game to the Thunder, 112-96, back in November 5. That game was forgettable for the T’wolves, especially to the pair of Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, who combined for a pathetic 11 points on 4-for-19 shooting from the field. The duo is better than that as what their season averages suggest, however.
Wiggins is putting up 21.9 PPG, while LaVine is contributing 20.7 PPG. Meanwhile, Karl Anthony Towns, who scored 33 points in the first meeting the Thunder, paces Minnesota with 22.1 PPG as of this writing.
And having a more experienced point guard this time around should help both Wiggins and LaVine perform so much better on offense.
Ricky Rubio wasn’t around in the November loss to the Thunder due to an elbow injury, forcing rookie Kris Dunn to start at point guard. Dunn made just seven points and just three dimes in 26 minutes of action. With Rubio at PG this Sunday, the Timberwolves will see their leader in assists and steals on the floor.
Minnesota is 3-1 ATS in its last four road games.
Betting on the Oklahoma City Thunder (18-12)
Minnesota has already been introduced to the 2016-17 version of Russell Westbrook, when the spitfire point guard spanked the Timberwolves in their first encounter for 28 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds.
At this point of the season, those kind of numbers are simply expected of Westbrook, who tops the Thunder in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and most likely vicious dunks. But it wasn’t just Westbrook, who made a killing then against Minnesota. The Thunder leaned on their advantage inside the paint, where they ate the T’wolves alive, outscoring Towns and company in the shaded area, 70-46.
Enes Kanter and Steven Adams flexed their muscle inside in that game, as they put up 30 points in the paint together. Oklahoma City is number one in the NBA in inside scoring so look for the Thunder to take advantage of Minnesota’s thin interior defense.
The Thunder will also lean on their more productive bench against Minnesota. Their relievers are averaging 35.6 PPG, which is significantly more than Minnesota’s bench that generates 22.1 PPG, the least in the NBA. Oklahoma City’s bench outscored its Timberwolves’ counterparts in the previous meeting, 43-33.
OKC is 9-1 SU and 6-4 ATS in its last 10 times the Timberwolves were in town.
Writer’s Prediction
Minnesota wins, 105-101.
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