Oklahoma City Thunder vs Minnesota Timberwolves 3/4/22 NBA Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Minnesota Timberwolves pay a visit to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Paycom Center on Friday night.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been in great shape as they’ve won five of their last seven games overall and they will be aiming for a third straight victory after making light work of the Warriors in a 129-114 home win on Tuesday. Karl-Anthony Towns led the team with 39 points and nine rebounds, D’Angelo Russell added 22 points with seven assists while Malik Beasley drained six 3-pointers to finish with 20 points off the bench. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 52 percent from the field and 16 of 40 from the 3-point line as they hit the ground running and poured in 68 points in the first half to take the 12-point lead into halftime, before going on another run in the fourth quarter to make it a blowout.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been in a real slump as they’ve lost eight of their last 11 games overall, but they will be eager to build some momentum after upsetting the Nuggets in a 119-107 road win on Wednesday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Isaiah Roby added 26 points with seven rebounds and five assists while Tre Mann chipped in with 13 points. As a team, the Thunder shot 50 percent from the field and a healthy 16 of 29 from the 3-point line as they kept pace with the Nuggets in a tight contest in the first half, before coming alive in the second half where they outscored the Nuggets by 64-50 to win comfortably in the end. The Thunder had one of their best offensive games in a while and they were dominant on the defensive end as they held the Nuggets’ dup of Will Barton and Monte Morris to a just 10 points on three of 19 shooting combined.

Looking at the betting trends, the Timberwolves are 4-0-1 ATS in their last five games playing on two days’ rest, 4-9 ATS in their last 13 road games and 9-4-1 ATS in their last 14 games overall. The Thunder are 0-3-2 ATS in their last five home games, 12-4-3 ATS in their last 19 games against a team with a winning record and 35-17-4 ATS in their last 56 games overall.

Head to head, the over is 11-5 in the last 16 meetings overall, the Timberwolves are 2-5-1 ATS in the last eight meetings overall and the Timberwolves are 6-1-1 ATS in the last eight meetings in Oklahoma City.

The Timberwolves are going to be shorthanded in this one as Anthony Edwards and McKinley Wright are both ruled out while Jarred Vanderbilt is listed as questionable for this one. The Thunder will again be without Luguentz Dort, Josh Giddey, Mike Muscala and Kenrich Williams. The Timberwolves still have Russell and Towns to lead them in scoring and they just beat the Warriors, so while I like the Timberwolves to get the win on the road, I think the Thunder hang around long enough to get the cover in the end.