Thunder top Timberwolves 124-94 to advance to NBA Finals
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) points during the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
basketball
By CLIFF BRUNT
The Oklahoma City Thunder tried their best to balance the euphoria of the moment with the fact that they haven't completed their mission.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the Thunder routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94 on Wednesday night to win the Western Conference finals series 4-1 and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.
After the win, the league MVP was measured in his excitement. Oklahoma City will play the Indiana Pacers or New York Knicks in the finals. Indiana leads the Eastern Conference finals series 3-1 with Game 5 to be played in New York City on Thursday.
'We've got a lot of growing to do,' he said. 'We've got a lot of work to do to get to our ultimate goal, and this is not it, so that's all that I'm focused on.'
Still, the young Thunder players had some of their usual fun. During a postgame interview, coach Mark Daigneault began complimenting his young squad.
'These guys are uncommon. They do everything right. They're high character.'
Then, several players started draping towels over Daigneault, as they often do to local sideline reporter Nick Gallo during postgame interview sessions.
'They're idiots,' Daigneault said without breaking focus.
Chet Holmgren had 22 points, seven rebounds and three blocks and Jalen Williams added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder.
A fanbase that had suffered through losing Kevin Durant in free agency in 2016 and a rebuild that had the team near the bottom of the league's standings just four years ago let loose in the fourth quarter when the Thunder sat their starters with 5:14 remaining and a 108-74 lead.
Julius Randle scored 24 points and Anthony Edwards added 19 for the Timberwolves, who shot just 41.2% from the field and committed 21 turnovers.
It was a tough loss for Minnesota point guard Mike Conley. The 37-year-old point guard said these opportunities are rare.
'It's going to take a while just to kind of dissect what we just did and what we weren't able to accomplish," he said. 'But at the same time, I'm proud of my team, proud of these guys, man. They really fought. Not just for me, but for the whole team.'
Oklahoma City opened the game on an 11-3 run and extended the advantage throughout the first quarter. Cason Wallace drained a 3-pointer as the first quarter expired to put the Thunder up 26-9 at the end of the period. The game was never close after that.
'We just struggled to find a rhythm," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. "Everyone was kind of trying to do it all by themselves. We lost our connectivity. But all credit to the Thunder. They certainly deserve this. They played outstanding. And we came up short in a lot of ways.'
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
16 hours ago
- Japan Times
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander focused on capping historic season with NBA title
Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has piled up individual accolades in leading the Thunder to the NBA Finals, but the Canadian guard says a title triumph against the Indiana Pacers is the prize that matters. "I don't play for the individual stuff, I don't play for anything else besides winning — I never have in my whole life," Gilgeous-Alexander said Wednesday, a day before the Thunder host the Pacers in Game 1 of the best-of-seven championship series. From youth basketball in Canada through college basketball in the United States, Gilgeous-Alexander said, his focus has been on winning titles. "Now I'm 26, I want to win the NBA championship," he said. "It's always about winning for me." With that goal in his sights, Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a spectacular season that saw him supplant Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic as the NBA MVP. "SGA" averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, five rebounds 1.7 steals and one blocked shot per game in leading the Thunder to an NBA-best 68 regular-season wins. He became the first player to lead the league in games with at least 20 points (75), 30 points (49), 40 points (13) and 50 points (four) in a season since James Harden in 2018-19. Named MVP of the Western Conference finals after the Thunder dispatched the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games, Gilgeous-Alexander could become the first scoring champion since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 to win the NBA title in the same season. Gilgeous-Alexander said it had been "a long week to wait" since polishing off Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves — which followed a seven-game victory over Jokic and the Nuggets in the conference semifinals. He acknowledged after the conference semis that he had been nervous in the run-up to Game 7 — but that experience has only helped him in the build-up to the Finals. "As these playoffs go on, you get better in controlling the situations, controlling your emotions," he said. "You understand what's coming. "I just figured out how to navigate through all the emotions and the nerves and the waiting process, which is just plugging into my loved ones, try not to think about it so much, stress about it so much — just enjoy life and stay in the moment." In addition to not looking too far forward, Gilgeous-Alexander said he is also not yet looking back on what has been an historic season for the Thunder. "I've been so focused on just game one," he said. "Trying to be the best version of myself for this group and trying to make sure that we're clicking on all cylinders on the biggest stage of our careers has been on the forefront of my mind and all I do worry about when I worry about basketball."
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Knicks fire Thibodeau as coach after exiting NBA playoffs
Tom Thibodeau was fired as coach of the New York Knicks on Tuesday, three days after his team was ousted from the NBA playoffs by the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks, who have not won the NBA title since 1973, fell to Indiana in six games in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals, falling short of reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 despite their best playoff run in 25 years. Thibodeau spent five seasons as coach of the Knicks, guiding New York into the playoffs four times, this being their deepest run after losing in the second round the past two seasons. New York dethroned NBA 2024 champion the Boston Celtics in round two.
Japan Times
5 days ago
- Japan Times
Pacers beat Knicks to set up NBA Finals clash with Thunder
The Indiana Pacers, fueled by 31 points from Pascal Siakam and a 21-point double-double from Tyrese Haliburton, beat the New York Knicks 125-108 on Saturday to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000. The Pacers used a big third quarter to break open a close game and kept the pressure on in the fourth period to win the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals four games to two. They reached the championship series for the second time in franchise history, and will be chasing their first title when the NBA Finals open in Oklahoma City on Thursday. New York had fended off elimination with a dominant defensive display in Game 5, but couldn't send the series to a decisive Game 7. Instead the Knicks, who earned their two NBA titles in 1970 and 1973, remain in search of their first trip to the final stage since 1999. Star forward Siakam was named MVP of the Eastern Conference finals, bouncing back after a disappointing outing in Game 5, when the Knicks used a dominating defensive effort to extend the series. "After a bad Game 5, we wanted to bounce back," Siakam said. "And I have 100% belief in my teammates. Whenever we're down, we always find a way — and we did that tonight." Haliburton shook off early shooting struggles to finish with 21 points and 13 assists as seven Pacers players scored in double figures. That included 18 off the bench from Obi Toppin and 11 from backup Thomas Bryant as the Pacers reserves out-scored the Knicks reserves 38-20. "I'm really proud of this group," Haliburton said. "We had a tough showing last game as a group. We wanted to respond. "We did a great job of that," he added. "I'm just so proud of this group and I don't even have words right now." OG Anunoby led the Knicks' scoring with 24 points. Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 14 rebounds and Jalen Brunson scored 19 points and handed out seven assists. But Indiana emerged from a fast-paced first quarter that featured five lead changes with a one-point lead and never trailed again, harrying New York into 18 turnovers that led to 34 Pacers points. Haliburton, scoreless in the first quarter, warmed up with eight points in the second, including a thunderous dunk after teammate Andrew Nembhard's steal — one of 10 first-half turnovers by New York. Nembhard came up with another steal from Brunson and fed Siakam for a layup to push Indiana's lead to six points before Anunoby drilled a basket in the final second of the first half to cut the Knicks' deficit to 58-54 at the break. The Pacers opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run and pushed their lead to 15 points, 78-63, on back-to-back 3-pointers from Nembhard and Bryant, sending the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse into a frenzy. The Knicks quickly trimmed the deficit back to seven only for the Pacers to pull away again to take a 92-77 lead into the fourth quarter. Haliburton, who had just 10 points through the first three quarters, added 11 in the final frame as the Pacers romped home.
