OKC Thunder: 3 keys to bouncing back versus Wolves

OKC Thunder key no. 3: Do the little things

While the teams had virtually identical stats the Thunder had several players raise their level of play. Hamidou Diallo collected a career-high 10 assists and Al Horford also collected a season-high eight dimes and was the captain on the court keeping the young crew focused on defense and calm during their comeback effort.

OKC will need whoever plays to repeat that effort especially if SGA and/or Dort aren’t available.

The one area the team should focus on improving is protecting the ball. The Thunder coughed up the ball 17 times which equated to 17 points scored off those turnovers. Minnesota also had 17 turnovers that created 25 points for the Thunder.

If OKC can protect the ball and be aggressive to force turnovers that could be the difference in the game.

All stats courtesy of basketball reference or NBA Stats.

Game specifics:

Records:

• Thunder: 9-12
• Timberwolves: 6-16

The Venue: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Tipoff:  8:00 PM ET  | 7:00 PM CT

TV: Fox Sports  Oklahoma | NBA League Pass

Radio: WWLS 98.1 FM OKC

Odds:

Injuries:

The big news Friday was Theo Maledon was a late scratch as he dealt with contact tracing. Intentions noted in the Friday preview, we were keen to witness what type of performance the rookie would deliver having primary command of the playmaking and facing the top draft pick Anthony Edwards.

The tendency of the OKC Thunder is to hold their cards close to the chest. In his media session, Mark Daigneault said both SGA and Dort were day-to-day stating it was nothing serious. On all the injury reports they are listed as day-to-day.

That could mean they’ll suit up Saturday and it’s unlikely that information will be forthcoming until just prior to tip.

More from Thunderous Intentions

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• Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Thunder:

• Theo Maledon (health and safety) game time decision
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (knee) game time decision
• George Hill (thumb) expected to be out until early March.
• Luguentz Dort (knee) game time decision
• Ty Jerome (ankle) – out indefinitely
• Trevor Ariza (personal) out indefinitely

Timberwolves:

• Karl-Anthony Towns has missed 10 games after testing positive for COVID-19, he’s slated to return February 6th which would have him playing in the second game of this back-to-back set.
• Jarrett Culver (ankle) is out until January 10th.

History:

The Thunder possesses the all-time record between the clubs have won 85 of their 122 meetings. In the 2019-20 season, the teams played three times with the Thunder sweeping the regular-season series.

Enjoy the game and check back tomorrow for grades and three takeaways.