Thunderous Intentions
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Thunder top Timberwolves despite Westbrook’s absence

By Dean Turner

Mar 16, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Victor Oladipo (5) is congratulated by forward Taj Gibson (22) after scoring a basket against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Thunder beat the Raptors 123-102. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 16, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Victor Oladipo (5) is congratulated by forward Taj Gibson (22) after scoring a basket against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Thunder beat the Raptors 123-102. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 11, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; OKC Thunder forward Kyle Singler (15) dunks the ball in the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Thunder won 100-98. Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 11, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; OKC Thunder forward Kyle Singler (15) dunks the ball in the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Thunder won 100-98. Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

The OKC Thunder were forced to do a basketball battle Wednesday night without their commander-in-chief against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Thanks to Victor Oladipo it went pretty well.

Who needs Russell Westbrook when you’ve got Victor Oladipo? I’m kidding, but it was Oladipo’s Westbrook-like game-winner that helped the Oklahoma City Thunder top the Minnesota Timberwolves 100-98 on Tuesday night.

With Russell Westbrook sidelined, it was up to his supporting cast to go out and produce in order to pick up their 47th victory of the season. It’s safe to say they didn’t let Westbrook down.

How it played out

The Thunder came out firing on all cylinders as they outscored the Timberwolves 33-16 in the first quarter thanks in part to nine early points from an unlikely source: Kyle Singler.

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In the next two quarters, however, the Thunder lost their offensive burst as they scored just 23 points in the second quarter and an abominable 15 in the third. The Timberwolves meanwhile outscored them by 18 points during this stretch.

Despite their mid-game struggles, the OKC Thunder managed to channel their inner Westbrook and pick it back up in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Timberwolves 29-26, which was just enough to edge out a victory.

Overall, the Thunder put forth a quality game as they had six players — Domantas Sabonis, Singler, Steven Adams, Oladipo, Enes Kanter and Norris Cole — reach double figures. Oladipo led the way for the Thunder with 20 points and his aforementioned spectacular 21-foot game-winner over Ricky Rubio.

Looking forward

The Oklahoma City Thunder have officially crossed 81 games off of their 82 game list. Their final regular season game will be played Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets in Oklahoma City. It’ll be interesting to see if Westbrook suits up. It doesn’t make much sense for him to do so, but he apparently loves playing the Nuggets considering he’s gone wild against them this year:

Following their game against the Nuggets, the Thunder will begin preparing (if they haven’t already) for the Houston Rockets. The exact date and time of the Thunder’s first game against the Rockets has yet to be determined, but the series should provide NBA fans with a bevy of offensive fireworks.

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