The Oklahoma City Thunder need a win and a New Orleans loss to clinch the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, while the Minnesota Timberwolves will finish with the worst record in the league no matter what the result of this game is.
Projected Starting Lineups
Oklahoma City Thunder (44-37)
G Russell Westbrook – 27.9 ppg, 8.6 apg, 7.2 rpg
G Dion Waiters – 12.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg
F Andre Roberson – 3.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg
F Enes Kanter – 18.0 ppg, 10.8 rpg
C Steven Adams – 7.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg
Minnesota Timberwolves (16-65)
G Zach LaVine – 10.0 ppg, 3.5 apg
G Chase Budinger – 6.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg
F Andrew Wiggins – 16.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg
F Adreian Payne – 7.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg
C Justin Hamilton– 9.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg
What to watch for:
How hard will Minnesota play?
Oklahoma City is desperate to get a win, but the Timberwolves have the worst record in a league and have lost 11 games in a row. Minnesota's two starting big men, Kevin Garnett and Gorgui Dieng, are both out, leaving the Timberwolves with a very young and inexperienced team on the court. It'll be very easy for them to focus on the offseason and not worry about playing spoiler in this game, allowing the Thunder to win easily.
Prediction: Thunder win 107-101
Even though the Timberwolves have nothing tangible to play for, I think they'll play extremely hard trying to end the season with a win. However, the injuries - and Russell Westbrook - will just be too much for them to overcome as the Thunder will clinch a playoff spot.
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