The Thunder take on the Wolves for the first time this season and if history is any indication, the Wolves will be a tough game for the Thunder. This is one team that has always given the Thunder issues no matter who is on the roster. Then take into account how the Wolves are a much better team on the road than they are at home. They’re 3-7 at home vs 7-3 on the road and average 118 points on the road vs 110 at home. The improvement play of Andrew Wiggins makes this game a lot tougher. Here are the three keys for a Thunder victory.
LIMIT 2nd CHANCE POINTS AND PUT MORE EFFORT INTO REBOUNDING
The Wolves score the 8th most second chance points in the NBA and the Thunder allow the 7th most so it’s not a good mix for them. This means the Thunder will have to do a much better job rebounding. They haven’t been anywhere close to where we’re used to seeing them when it comes to rebounding and have to find their way back. It’s easy to say they aren’t as good because they lost Russell Westbrook and Paul George but as we’ve seen with Westbrook, rebounding has a lot to do with how much effort you put into it. The Thunder have lacked effort when rebounding this season and it shows. The Wolves haven’t. They’re 4th in offensive rebounds and 3rd in total rebounds. The Thunder will have to bring some kind of effort when it comes to rebounding. If they can tonight, they’ll have a chance to win.
PROTECT THE PAINT
This is another part of the game that’s a bad matchup for the Thunder. Not necessarily because the Woman score a lot of points in the paint, which they do, and not because the Thunder allow a lot of points in the paint. It’s because the Wolves live in the paint and rank 28th in 3 point shooting. Protecting the paint and forcing them to hit threes should be the main focus of the Thunder defense tonight. Steven Adams is very important here. He has to do a better job defensively. He’s had problems with centers that can hit threes and Karl Anthony-Towns is one of the best at it. Adams will have to not fall for a pump fake and just play KAT straight up. If he does fall for the pump fake and let’s KAT drive by him, then the help defenders need to force him to pass out to guys on the perimeter.
LIMIT FREE THROWS
The Wolves currently rank 3rd in free throw makes a game. It’s imperative that the Thunder play smart defense and limit the fouls. Thunder are good enough to keep games close, so if they can keep this one close, they will need to not give the Wolves free throws. The Thunder don’t foul that much, actually 16 free throws a game, which is 8th best in the league so they shouldn’t have a problem with this. However, when a team loves to live in the paint, they’re usually the more physical team and the more physical team usually takes more free throws. The Wolves will most likely get plenty of free throws based on that alone so limiting the dumb fouls is very important.
The Wolves have had a lot of success against the Thunder over the last few years. They’ve gone 3-1 the last two years and are 7-3 in the last 10 games against them. The Thunder will have to bring some effort and remain disciplined if the want to get a win.
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