Serge Ibaka dealing with knee soreness, out Friday

Injuries continue to ravage the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Power forward Serge Ibaka is dealing with soreness in his right knee and will sit out Friday's contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves, reports Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman.

The Thunder are in the thick of a hotly contested playoff race that sees the Thunder a half-game out of eighth. Already without Kevin Durant, who continues to battle a foot injury, playing without their defensive anchor in Ibaka will be difficult, to say the least.

Luckily, the Thunder face a rather soft opponent in the Timberwolves. However, since the return of Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic, the Timberwolves have been surprisingly stingy and could easily upset the shorthanded Thunder on Friday.

With Ibaka out, the Thunder will shift Dion Waiters and Mitch McGary into the starting lineup in hopes of replicating Ibaka's per-game average of 14.3 points.