Thunder at Timberwolves
The Oklahoma City Thunder are pulling out of their late-season slide and starting to pick things back up, just in time to get right for the postseason. The Thunder will try to push their winning streak to three in a row when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Oklahoma City dropped seven of nine and 13 of 19 to fall to the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference but got a 20-20-20 performance from Russell Westbrook in a 119-103 win over the Los Angeles Lakers and leaned on fellow All-Star Paul George for 30 points in a 123-110 triumph over Detroit on Friday. "We got back to our identity moving the ball and I think that's what we've got to keep doing the last three games," Thunder guard Dennis Schroder told reporters after Friday's win. "We were just out there playing with energy, running on the offensive end, playing with the pass. We did the right things tonight." The Timberwolves knocked off one team fighting for a postseason spot with a 111-109 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday - their second straight win. Minnesota finishes up with three more games against teams ticketed for the postseason with a home date against Toronto on Tuesday followed by a trip to Denver.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE THUNDER (46-33): Oklahoma City is sitting in the No. 7 spot in the West and will host Houston at home on Tuesday before finishing the regular season at Milwaukee on Wednesday. Westbrook clinched his third straight season averaging a triple-double when George buried a jumper off his feed early in the first quarter Friday, and he is averaging 22.9 points, 10.6 assists and 11.1 rebounds. "He'll go down as a Hall of Famer, one of the best," George told reporters of Westbrook. "Nobody I don't believe will be able to match that or beat that. You've got to be wired a certain way on a nightly basis to be able to compete at that level. He's special."
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (36-43): Minnesota is trying to close out the season strong while making gains going into the offseason and was pleased with its ability to fight off a desperate Heat squad on Friday. "I'm a firm believer you don't get better by picking up bad habits at the end of a season, rolling the ball out there and seeing what happens," interim coach Ryan Saunders told reporters. "You need to prepare, have a positive attitude about it. Because it's going to carry over into the summer, and summer carries over to the preseason, then we go into the regular season." Power forward Dario Saric led the way with 19 points on Friday - his third straight game scoring in double figures.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves C Karl-Anthony Towns committed a season-high 11 turnovers on Friday.
2. Oklahoma City C Steven Adams is shooting 66.7 percent from the floor over the last five games after shooting 30.4 percent over his previous three contests.
3. Minnesota is looking to sweep the four-game season series and took the first three meetings by an average of five points.