Projecting the Timberwolves’ possible first-round matchups

(4/5) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. (4/5) Oklahoma City Thunder

This is yet another intriguing possible first-round matchup for the Wolves. Two division opponents. One team playing well as of late. The other, not so much.

Although the Wolves won the season series 3-1, the Thunder have the hot hand, plus star players with playoff experience. When it comes to the Wolves, Butler is their lone star player with playoff experience.

More importantly, these teams have not faced each other since Jan. 10. Clearly, both teams have formed new identities since then.

Looking at some of the numbers from the four games these two teams played against one another, each of the first three games were decided by four points or less. Let’s not also forget that the Wolves stole the first game at the hands of Andrew Wiggins’ buzzer beater.

The Wolves have put up an average of 111.3 points on the Thunder during the season series. They have also held the Thunder to 107 points per game on average. What’s important to note is how the Wolves have held the Thunder to just 30 percent shooting from three.

Granted, the Thunder don’t own the greatest team 3-point percentage. However, it still isn’t easy to hold a team with three superstars to a dismal 30 percent 3-point percentage.

Continuing with per-game averages, both teams have turned the ball over a lot to one another over the four meetings. The Wolves, on average, commit 16.8 turnovers per game against the Thunder while Oklahoma City averages 15.8.

With both teams neck-and-neck in that category, possessing the ball would become much more vital in this hypothetical first round matchup.