It's a matchup of one of the NBA's most explosive teams versus one of the most defensive-minded as the surprising Minnesota Timberwolves host the Oklahoma City Thunder in a nationally-televised game at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPN.

The Timberwolves have won back-to-back games -- including a 127-99 thrashing of LeBron James' Cavaliers on Monday behind Andrew Wiggins' 25-point performance. But they'll have an equally difficult matchup against the All-Star Thunder trio of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.

The Timberwolves opened as three-point favorites and now are laying 4.5. The Over-Under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, has bumped up from an opening of 210.5 to 211.5.

Before picking either side of the spread, you need to read what the SportsLine Projection Model has come up with. This model has put together a blistering 53-29 run on its top-rated point-spread picks this season, returning over $2,100 to $100 bettors.

Now, the model has examined every matchup, every player and every trend for Thunder-Timberwolves and locked in against-the-spread, Over-Under and money line picks. You can only see them over at SportsLine.

We can tell you that the computer has the Under winning in 59 percent of simulations. But what about the spread, which it's been on fire picking?

The model knows the Thunder are 1-4 against the spread in their last five contests in Minnesota, while the Timberwolves are 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 home games versus teams with losing road records.

The Thunder's best chance to cover the spread -- and win outright -- will be for superstar guard Russell Westbrook to score early and often. He leads the team in scoring at 24.8 points and corrals 9.6 boards. He's tops in the NBA in dishing the rock at 10.1 and is third in the league in steals at 2.0 per outing.

Versatile small forward Paul George plays big all over the court. He's No. 1 in the league in steals at 2.3 per contest and lethal from 3-point range, knocking down 44 percent of his long-distance shots. He also averages nearly 21 points a game.

The model also knows the Timberwolves can cover the spread with their balanced scoring and uptempo offense, which averages 108.4 points per game. Center Karl-Anthony Towns is a superior defensive stopper who pulls down a man-sized 11.9 rebounds and nets 20.2 points per game. He also rejects 1.5 shots per contest and shoots 40 percent from 3-point range.

Another way the Timberwolves can cover is to play strong at home, where they're an excellent 15-6 at the Target Center.

The Timberwolves will miss point guard Jeff Teague's presence as he's out with an MCL knee sprain, but Wiggins will be called on to come up big again. He scores 17.7 points and gathers 4.1 boards per contest.

Will the Thunder notch a huge road win to creep up the Western standings, or at least keep it within the spread, or will the Timberwolves secure a third straight win against another quality opponent and cover?  Visit SportsLine now to see the strong point-spread pick for Thunder-Timberwolves, all from the model that has absolutely crushed the NBA, and find out.