Excitement surrounding this OKC Thunder team may have reached season-high levels after officially punching their ticket to round three on Sunday, but, with a Game 1 date against the Minnesota Timberwolves rapidly approaching, there's little time to bask in the splendor of semifinal success.
More importantly, with this quick turnaround, there barely seems to be a moment for Oklahoma City to rest their legs and catch a breath following their seven-game battle against the Denver Nuggets.
This, in theory, could prove to be a serious disadvantage for the Thunder and, in turn, a major boon for the T-Wolves during their upcoming Western Conference Finals showdown.
Timberwolves far more rested than Thunder ahead of conference finals
As if an 82-game regular season schedule wasn't enough on its own, adding 11 more into the mix over a two-round span in the playoffs is only bound to cause some serious fatigue.
That is the type of milage and, in turn, risk the Thunder find themselves coming into the conference finals with.
To make matters worse, their direct opponent in the Timberwolves has taken part in two rather short series so far, besting both the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in gentleman's sweep fashion.
Though Oklahoma City may have the home-court advantage edge on their side, perhaps more vital -- especially when considering how the Nuggets managed to handle themselves out at Paycom Center in round two -- is the fact that Minnesota has rest and recovery on theirs.
Coming into Tuesday's series tip-off, the Wolves will have been resting up for nearly a full week, whereas the Thunder will be just over 48 hours removed from their Game 7 win over Denver.
Now, while some may look to spin this discrepancy in regard to time off in a positive direction, as one could theoretically make the classic "rust" argument in regard to Minnesota, considering the injury woes OKC has endured all throughout this year's campaign, any risk of health-related ailments creeping up should be viewed as undesierable and, frankly, rather concerning.
Interestingly enough, what bodes well for the Thunder is that even though they've played in more games so far this postseason, the Wolves' core starters have only logged 38.4 fewer minutes in total, with their top three of Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, and Jaden McDaniels even seeing 16 more minutes played in total than the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren.
Fortunately, Oklahoma City has one of the deepest rotations in the entire league, so the hope is that such a luxury will help alleviate some of the burden and hardships that come with kicking off a brand new playoff round just two days after wrapping up a hard-fought seven-game series.
Right from the jump in Tuesday's Game 1, it's safe to assume that this team is going to need all the help it can get from its stellar supporting cast.