NBA DFS Picks for the Playoffs: Thunder vs Timberwolves – Game 4

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves head into Game 4 of their best-of-seven series in the Western Conference Finals with the Thunder up 2-1 in the series. Oklahoma City controlled the momentum in the first two games of the series, but as the series shifted to Game 3 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, the Wolves turned around and blew out the Thunder 143-101.

Game 3 was never close, with the Timberwolves up 72-41 at halftime and the starters for both teams out in the middle of the third quarter. This keeps up the trend of this series consisting of blowouts in all three games, and we’ll see if that continues in the second game in Minneapolis for Game 4.

Let’s dive into this Game 4 matchup while recapping how both teams got here and make a Game 4 pick for tonight.

Minnesota Timberwolves NBA Playoffs Recap

The Timberwolves dropped the first two games in the series against the Thunder by scores of 114-88 and 118-103. Many had written the eulogy for Minnesota with a “good job, try again next year” epilogue to their 2024-2025 NBA season. Game 3 proved that the Timberwolves have quite a bit more bark than they’ve let on through the first two games of the series with their 143-101 throttling of the Thunder. Minnesota shot a whopping 57 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range as they made an emphatic statement and showed they aren’t out of this series just yet.

Anthony Edwards led the way with 30 points and Julius Randle bounced back from a miserable Game 2 performance to shoot 9-of-15 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range to score 24 points. Both Edwards and Randle led the team with 30 minutes played as the Timberwolves’ starters bowed out in the third quarter in the blowout. It’s an accomplishment to score 143 points against any professional team, but to do it against the NBA’s best defense in a pivotal Game 3 down 2-0 in the series shows what this team is capable of.

Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Playoffs Recap

After two lopsided wins in Oklahoma City, the Thunder were up 2-0 in the series, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was just named the league’s MVP and All-NBA 1st Team, Lugentz Dort took home All-Defensive 1st Team honors and Jalen Williams was named All-NBA 3rd Team and All-Defensive 2nd Team. The Thunder were riding high, but perhaps the Timberwolves’ huge effort in Game 3 splashed the proverbial cold water on the face of Oklahoma City. The Thunder shot barely above 40 percent as a team and Gilgeous-Alexander shot just 4-of-13 from the field for a team-leading 14 points in the Game 3 dud.

All of the Thunder starters barely played into the third quarter as they emptied out the bench to save the starters and give the less-heralded end of the bench players some game time in the playoffs. For Oklahoma City, it was a game they can write off, knowing they have Game 4 in Minneapolis before heading back home for Game 5.

Timberwolves vs Thunder Game 4 DFS Picks

For Game 4, it’s will be all about how the Thunder bounce back from a lopsided defeat in Game 3 and we will see just how prepared they are to weather the Timberwolves and their Target Center home crowd for one more game. But let’s not forget Minnesota’s part in this either. It was huge for Randle to overcome a terrible Game 2 in which he was 2-of-11 from the field, missing all three attempts from beyond the arc and just six points.

For DFS purposes tonight, we’ll go back to the well with Randle building off of the efficient 24-point night he had in Game 3 and how effective he was with the home crowd behind him as the second scoring option outside of Edwards. The Timberwolves will need Randle if they are going to even up the series with Oklahoma City and with the home crowd behind him, Randle should have a great shot at notching at least 19 points in Game 4.

Our Pick: Julius Randle to Record 19+ Points