Jordan McLaughlin wasn’t solidly in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ rotation the last time they squared off against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 7. However, he’s likely to be right in the middle of the action Friday when the Timberwolves and Thunder tip off in Oklahoma City.
McLaughlin didn’t enter Minnesota’s previous game against Oklahoma City until the Timberwolves led by 34 with just over six minutes to play. The third-year guard didn’t leave the bench two nights earlier, when Minnesota topped the Thunder 98-90.
But since then, he’s become a key piece off the bench for Minnesota, both in facilitating the offense at the point when Patrick Beverley is off the floor and in becoming a lock-down perimeter defender.
“J-Mac is a product of getting out of the mud,” Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell said. “His route to get here and stay here and find a home here has been great. We all respect him and his craft.”
McLaughlin averaged 10.5 minutes in his first 30 appearances this season. In the last 15, he’s averaged 18 minutes, nearly doubling his assist production to 3.9 per game and committing a total of five turnovers.
Minnesota is 10-5 during that span.
McLaughlin showed the progress he’s made since breaking into the rotation in late January during a 129-114 win over Golden State on Tuesday.
“He plays hard, he plays the right way, he sets the tone,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He’s in such a rhythm right now. He’s playing the best basketball of his career, I’m sure. Teammates love playing with him. They love watching him play, offensively and defensively.”
Minnesota has won back-to-back games and five of its last seven entering Friday, when the teams meet for the third of four times this season; they play at Target Center in Minneapolis on March 9. The Timberwolves are looking to win the season series between the teams for the first time since 2018-19.
Oklahoma City comes into the game having won two of three, including a surprising 119-107 victory at Denver on Wednesday. The Thunder won although they had just nine players available for that game.
The Thunder’s recent spate of injuries — in the last week, Josh Giddey, Aaron Wiggins and Derrick Favors have been added to a growing group of players out — have opened the door for more of a role for Aleksej Pokusevski.
After starting 28 games as a rookie last season, Pokusevski’s start Wednesday was just the third of his second NBA season. He’s bounced in and out of the rotation this season, and even spent a significant amount of time in the G League, but had nine points and a season-high 11 rebounds against the Nuggets.
“The stakes are very high for him as a player in terms of having to play a certain way,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “He’s played a lot of minutes in what I would call an assessment phase, and then coming into this season, we were very clear-eyed in terms of what he needs to do to be a successful NBA player.
“We want him to be one, and we think he can be one, and we think he can be one here.”
–Field Level Media
