On short rest, Thunder hosts Game 1 vs. Fresh Wolves to grab

The Oklahoma City Thunder had a lot of time before their first two play -off series. Now, in the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, it will be the thunder that comes in short in the series, while their opponent has much more time to recover. The series starts in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. The Thunder arrives in a 125-93 win over the visiting Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of their second round on Sunday. The Timberwolves did not play in six days after closing the Golden State Warriors in five games. Oklahoma City had one week between matches before the first round series against Memphis and then nine days between matches before the series against the Nuggets. In the first round, the Thunder opened with a 51 -point victory over the Grizzlies, but dropped Game 1 to Denver after fading late. Minnesota had a six -day dismissal in front of each of his first two series, which won Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers and dropped Game 1 to Golden State. The Timberwolves won each series in five games. The Timberwolves are in the conference final for the second consecutive season and the third time in their history. Minnesota has never advanced to the NBA final. Oklahoma City has been in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2016 and is looking for its first final since 2012. The series contains two of the NBA’s top defense, both during the regular season and in the playoffs. The Thunder boasts a defense rating of 101.6 points per 100 possessions – in 11 play -offs, the best this after -season. Minnesota’s defense rating of 106.8 is second. It also contains two of the top young stars in the League in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City and the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards. Gilgeous-Alexander is on average 29.0 points, 6.4 Assists and 5.9 Rebounds this post-season, while Edwards scored an average of 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists. Gilgeous-Alexander, the forerunner for the most valuable player honors, is looking forward to the match against Cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Minnesota. The two players were born less than two months apart in Toronto and both attended Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tenn. “It will be very nice,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s hard to even explain. If you know how close we are, he is literally like my second brother. Through every phase of life with me-he, he picked up a basketball to prepare the school to make the NBA, we went through together. We could both compete a special game against each other. to a 5-of-19 shooting night. So I think that’s the main reason why people think he made a leap when he really could be just that, because he was so disciplined in his approach. ‘The teams split their four -game season series and split their two games in Oklahoma City. Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert played in one of the games for the new year’s Eve loss. Apples, I don’t know if these games are the perfect framework to look at the series, “said coach Mark Daigneault.” It will be different. “