Needing one win to secure their spot in the NBA finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder go head to head with the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Paycom Center on Wednesday night.
A two-point defeat on Monday saw the Minnesota Timberwolves fall three games behind in the series, landing their hopes of a first appearance in the finals a crushing blow.
Match preview
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The Oklahoma City Thunder bounced back from a 42-point blowout defeat in Game 3 to move within one win of reaching the NBA finals as they secured a 128-126 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.
Crowned NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turned in a statement display as he knocked down a game-high 40 points on 13-of-30 shooting from the field to go with 10 assists and was one rebound shy of his first triple-double of the playoffs at the Target Center.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished as one of four OKC players with double figures, including Chet Holmgren (21), Alex Caruso (10) and Jalen Williams, who bounced back from a cold shooting display in Game 3 to notch 34 points with 54% FG.
Having brushed aside the Memphis Grizzlies and the Denver Nuggets in the first two rounds, Mark Daigneault's men are on the cusp of reaching a first NBA finals since 2012 as they hold a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals series.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will be backing themselves to get the job done on Wednesday as they return to the Paycom Center, where they are on a run of five back-to-back victories and are 7-1 from their eight games in the playoffs.
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Three games down in the series, the Minnesota Timberwolves must throw their best punch from Wednesday onwards as they look to keep their dreams of a first NBA finals appearance alive.
While Chris Finch's men led the Oklahoma City Thunder in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, rebound and assists, they trailed for most of the game, with their only lead (2 points) coming midway through the first quarter.
Anthony Edwards failed to make his mark at the Target Center as he shot 5-of-13 to notch 16 points while Nickeil Alexander-Walker knocked down a team-high 23 points in a solid contribution off the bench.
While Wednesday's clash is a must-win for the Minnesota Timberwolves, it is worth noting that they lost the first two games of the series at the Paycom Center and have lost three of their four visitors since the turn of the year.
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Team News
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The Oklahoma City Thunder will head into Game 5 without the services of Serbian guard Nikola Topic, who has been ruled out for the entire campaign through a severe knee problem.
Having tallied a season-lowest 14 points in Game 3, Gilgeous-Alexander responded with 40 points in a dominant display on Thursday and the Canadian forward will look to lead OKC to a historic finals appearance.
Meanwhile, there are no changes on the injury front for the Minnesota Timberwolves and they will head into Wednesday's elimination clash with a clean bill of health, giving Finch a full house to select from.
Edwards was held to just 16 points on Tuesday — his second-poorest scoring display in the playoffs — and the 23-year-old, who is averaging 27.6 points per game, will be looking to bounce back and inspire Minnesota at the Paycom Center.
Oklahoma City Thunder possible starting 5:
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Williams, Holmgren, Hartenstein
Minnesota Timberwolves possible starting 5:
Conley, Edwards, McDaniels, Randle, Gobert
We say: The Oklahoma City Thunder to win by 8+ points.
Joshua Ojele
