Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves Same Game Parlay Pick

The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter All-Star Weekend as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. As of Tuesday, the Thunder are ahead of the next closest Western Conference team, the Memphis Grizzlies, by 7.5 games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is now a pretty big favorite to be named the NBA MVP per the basketball futures odds, so the Minnesota Timberwolves will have their work cut out for them on Thursday night. This will be the last nationally televised NBA game before the All-Star break. 

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Oklahoma City and Minnesota have only met once this season. SGA went off for 40 points in a 113-105 win for the Thunder back on New Year’s Eve. No other OKC player scored more than 15 points in the win, but Isaiah Hartenstein and Jalen Williams helped out in other ways. Interestingly, these teams will play three times in 12 days as they will play on back-to-back nights in alternating locations on February 23-24.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Oklahoma City Thunder SGP

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has taken his game to a new level after being a First Team All-NBA selection for each of the last two seasons. SGA finished fifth in the NBA MVP voting two years ago and was runner-up to Nikola Jokic last season. He is favored to beat Jokic this season as he is averaging a career-high 32.7 PPG while making 52.8% of his field goals. SGA is currently leading the league in scoring, and only Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging over 30 PPG as well.

There is a lot of depth on OKC too. Jalen Williams has been awesome in his third season out of Santa Clara, averaging 21.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 5.1 APG. Williams hasn’t been as efficient as he was last season, but defenses are more aware of him as he is clearly the second-biggest scoring threat on the Thunder. Isaiah Hartenstein has been great in the paint when healthy, averaging 11.5 PPG and 12.0 RPG, and Chet Holmgren is finally back on the court after missing three months with an injury. Holmgren’s availability will be very important for the Thunder down the stretch as this team has a ton of size and length when he is on the floor with Williams and Hartenstein.

Minnesota is one of the few teams in the NBA that has the size to compete with Oklahoma City even after trading Karl-Anthony Towns to New York. Rudy Gobert is a strong paint presence as long as he isn’t left on an island, and he is flanked by Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, and Naz Reid. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, it sounds like Randle will miss this game as he continues to deal with a groin injury.

We have seen Anthony Edwards take another step forward this season. Edwards had a breakout postseason last year and is now averaging a career-high 27.2 PPG. Additionally, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft has really improved his perimeter shooting and is sinking 42.1% of his threes. Edwards has scored at least 40 points in three straight games, but he wasn’t able to lead the Timberwolves past Cleveland on Monday night despite finishing with 44 points.

Naz Reid has been logging big minutes with Randle out. Reid has been on the floor for at least 35 minutes in each of Minnesota’s last five games. He has shown that he can provide scoring at times, and he is a very good defender. As for Rudy Gobert, we know all about his strengths and limitations at this point. The 7’1 center will never be a true scoring threat, but he is a rim protector that is averaging 10.8 PPG and 10.4 RPG.

Minnesota won five straight games before Randle suffered an injury, and it looked like the T-Wolves might finally be figuring things out. However, they have split their last six games despite playing five of those six tilts at home. That has me looking to lay the points with the Thunder even though road games tend to check out in the run-up to the All-Star Break.

NAZ REID UNDER POINT TOTAL

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER TO COVER

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