The final play-in game for the Western Conference to determine who will be the No. 8 seed and face the Denver Nuggets in the first round is Friday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder (41-42) face the Minnesota Timberwolves (42-41) with tip-off is at 9:30 p.m. ET at Target Center (ESPN). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Thunder vs. Timberwolves odds, and make our expert NBA picks and predictions.
The Thunder finished the regular season as the 10 seed and advanced to play the Timberwolves with a 123-118 win on the road over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday as 5.5-point underdogs.
The Timberwolves, who finished the regular season 8th in the Western Conference, lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 108-102 Tuesday on the road in overtime, but they did cover the 8.5-point spread as underdogs.
The Timberwolves won 3 of 4 matchups vs. the Thunder in the regular season.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3012″ ]
Thunder at Timberwolves odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:21 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Thunder +180 (bet $100 to win $180) | Timberwolves -225 (bet $225 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Thunder +5.5 (-110) | Timberwolves -5.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 228.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Play our free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!
Thunder at Timberwolves key injuries
Thunder
- C Chet Holmgren (foot) out
- F Aleksej Pakusevski (knee) out
- G Kenrich Williams (wrist) out
Timberwolves
- C Rudy Gobert (back) questionable
- F Jaden McDaniels (hand) out
- G Jaylen Nowell (knee) questionable
- C Naz Reid (wrist) out
- C Karl-Anthony Towns (calf) questionable
For most recent updates: Official NBA injury report.
Thunder at Timberwolves picks and predictions
Prediction
Timberwolves 112, Thunder 109
Moneyline
The Thunder have been less than great on the road, going 17-25 this season, while Minnesota has been a modest 22-19 at home.
The Thunder have won 3 straight overall and their last 2 road games, so we can expect a competitive game, but that doesn’t matter much for this wager.
Betting the Wolves here doesn’t have value. There are better bets to be made.
PASS.
Against the spread
The Thunder went 2-2 ATS in the regular season against the Timberwolves. They also were fairly reliable as an ATS bet, going 45-34-3 ATS this season while T-wolves are 40-42 ATS on the season.
The Thunder have covered the spread in their last 3 games but are 3-7 ATS in their last 10. Minnesota is 6-4 ATS in its last 10 but 4-0 ATS in its last 4.
With the stakes high and one team’s season ending Friday, expect a close, tough game.
BET THUNDER +5.5 (-110).
Over/Under
Three of the four meetings of the teams this season had totals lower than Friday’s projection.
The Under is 4-1 in the Thunder’s last 5 games against teams with a winning record. It is 6-2 in the Wolves’ last 8 games overall.
BET UNDER 228.5 (-110).
[gambcom-standard rankid=”5″ ]
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Follow Jess Root on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Access more NBA coverage:
HoopsHype | Bulls Wire | Celtics Wire | Nets Wire | Rockets Wire | Sixers Wire | Thunder Wire | Warriors Wire | LeBron Wire | Rookie Wire | List Wire
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1368]