Oklahoma City starts Western Conference finals against Minnesota

Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14, first in the Western Conference)

Oklahoma City; Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Thunder -7.5; over/under is 214.5

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Thunder host first series matchup

BOTTOM LINE: The Oklahoma City Thunder host the Minnesota Timberwolves to open the Western Conference finals. Oklahoma City and Minnesota tied the regular season series 2-2. The Timberwolves won the last regular season matchup 131-128 in overtime on Tuesday, Feb. 25 led by 27 points from Jaden McDaniels, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points for the Thunder.

The Thunder are 12-4 against the rest of their division. Oklahoma City is sixth in the Western Conference in rebounding averaging 44.8 rebounds. Jalen Williams leads the Thunder with 5.3 boards.

The Timberwolves are 11-5 against the rest of their division. Minnesota ranks eighth in the Western Conference with 44.3 rebounds per game led by Rudy Gobert averaging 10.9.

The 120.5 points per game the Thunder average are 11.2 more points than the Timberwolves allow (109.3). The Timberwolves score 6.7 more points per game (114.3) than the Thunder give up (107.6).

TOP PERFORMERS: Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting 51.9% and averaging 32.7 points for the Thunder. Alex Caruso is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Anthony Edwards is scoring 27.6 points per game with 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the Timberwolves. Julius Randle is averaging 23.9 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 50.9% over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 7-3, averaging 115.7 points, 45.4 rebounds, 24.5 assists, 10.5 steals and 5.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.6 points per game.

Timberwolves: 8-2, averaging 108.2 points, 42.0 rebounds, 24.9 assists, 8.1 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 101.1 points.

INJURIES: Thunder: Nikola Topic: out for season (acl).

Timberwolves: None listed.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.