Preview: OKC Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves

Form chart (last 5 games):

Thunder: LWWLW
Wolves: WLLLL

Season record:

The Thunder hold a 2-1 season lead and an all-time .75 winning record over their division rivals.

OKC Thunder Rotation:

UPDATE: As it turns out several players will be out for the Thunder tonight including Westbrook, Roberson, Gibson and McDermott

Given this news the likely starting line-up will be:

Point Guard: Semaj Christon
Shooting Guard: Victor Oladipo
Small Forward: Jerami Grant
Power Forward: Domantas Sabonis
Center: Steven Adams

Key sub to watch – Kyle Singler

I know, Kyle Singler is OKC Thunder’s key substitute to watch – said no one ever. But that man just clocked in 34 minutes against the Denver Nuggets. That was the combined sum of minutes Andre Roberson and Taj Gibson received in Mile High City. And that was not even in a blowout win for him to receive garbage minutes. That was a full end-to-end comeback win where Donovan was forced to play his best hand.

That is the thing. Apart from focusing on defensive intensity, the remaining few matches of the season also give Donovan the chance to figure out line-up permutations.

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Wing depth has always been the Thunder’s biggest hole in the roster. Against the Rockets in the playoffs, 3-and-D options are a premium. The Thunder are in desperate need of options against the Rockets’ barrage of shooters.

In the playoffs, a series is defined just as much by roster talent levels and the coaches’ abilities to match his counterpart’s move. Each man will seek to stretch and warp his squad of 15 in order to push 3rd quarter leads further or innovate a way out of deep holes.

This is even more so for the Thunder. Singler has never been a trustworthy option for Donovan. But if he can display some of that usefulness against the Wolves that he did against the Nuggets, Donovan might just be entering the playoffs with one extra weapon in his arsenal.

Minnesota Timberwolves Rotation:

Point Guard: Ricky Rubio
Shooting Guard: Brandon Rush
Small Forward: Andrew Wiggins
Power Forward: Gorgui Dieng
Center: Karl-Anthony Towns

Key sub to watch – Omri Casspi

Let’s put it this way – the Wolves are not the deepest team in the league, and their other bench starlet, Shabazz Muhammad, is almost the prototypical opponent the Thunder would like to face.
That leaves us with Omri Casspi. Thunder fans will hope that his lackadaisical defense will help the likes of Doug McDermott round even more into form.

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Still, it is his offense that will be intriguing. Casspi is one of those international breeds of players that may never dominate the league, but whose shooting will always help them find a way to stay relevant.

Because of that, the Thunder’s wings need to take Casspi seriously. Players like him are a double-edged sword when teams know how to harness them, and the Thunder’s first round opponents happen to be one of those teams.

The Rockets are experts at using their shooters. At time, their long-range bombers help to the team explode back into the game. Against the Thunder, the team’s suspect bench mob is at the greatest danger of being a victim of this.

Other times, the Rockets make use of teams being obsessed with their shooters to inflict pick-and-roll damage against them.

The Wolves are not the Rockets, and Casspi is not of the same caliber as Houston’s shooters. But he is good practice for the Thunder’s host of wings, especially those starting from the bench.