Oklahoma City vs. Timberwolves: Breaking down the stats and star performers

The last two teams standing in the Western Conference have been the two best teams in the conference for more than two months, but who has the edge when comparing the metrics: Oklahoma City or Minnesota?

The Wolves have been a beast ever since Julius Randle returned from an injury on March 2. Randle missed all of February with a groin strain that he suffered Jan. 30 in a game at Utah. Upon his return, Minnesota went 17-4 to finish the regular season and they're 8-2 so far in the playoffs.

Add it all up and the Wolves are 25-6 since Randle came back from injury. If you throw in the five straight wins Minnesota had before Randle's injury, they've won 30 of their last 36 games with Randle in the lineup.

Meanwhile, the Thunder have been dominant all season. Let's compare the Wolves and Thunder from March 2 through the end of the regular season, and then we'll do the same for the playoffs.

You can see below, that from March 2 through the end of the regular season, the Thunder outperformed the Wolves in team record, offensive rating, defensive rating, and turnover rate. Minnesota was the better shooting team by the narrowest of margins.

And in the playoffs, the Wolves are 8-2 compared to 8-3 for the Thunder, but OKC has the Wolves beat in offensive and defensive rating, and turnover rate. The Wolves again have a slight edge in the shooting department.

Looking deeper, the Thunder and Wolves are the only teams remaining that have two players in the top 10 of Hoops Hype's global ratings. OKC has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at No. 2 and Jalen Williams at No. 9. Minnesota has Anthony Edwards at No. 3 and Randle at No. 6.

The next highest-ranked players from either team are the Thunder's Chet Holmgren at No. 23 and Minnesota's Jaden McDaniels at No. 25.

Game 1 of the best-of-seven series is at 7:30 p.m. CT Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

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