logo
Timberwolves vs. Thunder Game 5 prediction: NBA Western Conference finals odds, picks

Timberwolves vs. Thunder Game 5 prediction: NBA Western Conference finals odds, picks

New York Post28-05-2025

Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards for more information.
The offenses in the NBA Western Conference finals are clicking on all cylinders.
On Monday night, the Thunder and Timberwolves combined for 254 points in a thrilling Game 4, which was the third-most of the 2025 playoffs.
Oklahoma City has been scoring at will throughout this series, but it appears Minnesota has figured something out on the offensive end as well.
The Timberwolves' 143- and 126-point performances in Games 3 and 4, respectively, are the highest they've had spanning this and last year's postseason runs, including back-to-back conference finals trips.
Oklahoma City's defense is a juggernaut, but its defense will need to right the ship a bit in this one as well.
The Thunder have scored at least 114 points in every game aside from their dud in Game 3, and are averaging more than 115 points per game in the series.
If we're targeting the total, the Wolves are the team to be worried about.
But it appears that the light bulb clicked on after scoring just 191 points combined through the first two games of the series.
Anthony Edwards will need a big Game 5 to keep Minnesota alive.
NBAE via Getty Images
Over the past two games, the Wolves have dominated the league-best Thunder defense.
In their Game 3 win Minnesota came out swinging and didn't let up, dropping 143 points.
Betting on the NBA?
That offensive success continued in Game 4 with 126 points, albeit in a loss.
Their 3-point shooting has been the difference, averaging an excellent 46.9 percent from deep over those two games.
Reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could be headed to an NBA FInals berth with a win Wednesday.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
We can't expect the Timberwolves' offense to hum on quite that level, but I think we've hit the point in the series where both teams know what they want to do on the offensive end.
The total is sitting around 216.5 at most major sportsbooks — these teams have hit the over on this number in three straight games, let's see if they can make it four.
The play: Thunder-Timberwolves Over 216.5 points (-110, BetMGM)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He's particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Some folks unhappy about backed-up traffic downtown because of free 'Yes'Cers' giveaway
Some folks unhappy about backed-up traffic downtown because of free 'Yes'Cers' giveaway

Yahoo

time25 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Some folks unhappy about backed-up traffic downtown because of free 'Yes'Cers' giveaway

While thousands waited in line for their 'Yes'Cers' swag bags downtown, many took to social media to complain about the wait and the traffic jam the Pacers giveaway caused during rush hour. Major intersections gridlocked as drivers in quest of the Pacers gear formed a one-lane traffic flow to the South Pennsylvania Street side of Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Pacers organization gave out 5,000 swag bags to people in their cars from 4 to 7 p.m. on June 4 one day before the first game of the NBA finals in Oklahoma City. By 7 p.m., all the bags were gone. Some people managed to walk up and snag a gift bag, but Pacers Sports & Entertainment officials said they stopped that practice to make sure people waiting inside their vehicles in line had a chance. Just under two hours into the giveaway, officials said they had 2,000 bags left. Users online shared their frustrations that hosting the event during rush hour traffic was a bad idea and interfered with rush hour traffic even for commuters who had no interest in acquiring a bag. Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON. Noe Padilla contributed to this article. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Downtown traffic jammed by free 'Yes,Cers' swag, drivers unhappy

Adam Silver talks mid-market NBA Finals, new All-Star game format and the Mavs lottery
Adam Silver talks mid-market NBA Finals, new All-Star game format and the Mavs lottery

Fox News

time27 minutes ago

  • Fox News

Adam Silver talks mid-market NBA Finals, new All-Star game format and the Mavs lottery

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers will square off in the 2025 NBA Finals starting on Thursday night at the Paycom Center. It's a matchup of two teams who play in mid-level markets, which always creates the conversation about how the sport's ratings will fare outside of NBA diehards. On Wednesday's edition of "Breakfast Ball," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver offered up his take on why the matchup is great for the NBA. "At the end of the day, we are a league of relatively small markets. The goal is to have a league where every team is in position to compete," Silver said. "It's been intentional, from our standpoint, to create a system, a collective bargaining agreement [CBA], that allows more teams to compete. We're going to have to go through a process of getting to the point where people are accustomed to tuning into the finals because the two teams deserve to be there, and it's the best basketball. "If I asked somebody if they were going to watch the Super Bowl, they wouldn't say 'who's playing?' It's a national holiday. That's nirvana. If the Knicks are in the finals, there's a segment of our fan base that's going to watch that may not watch if it's other teams, but my job is to get people to love and follow this game, so that if you're a huge basketball fan, you should want to tune in to the finals because that's the best basketball." It's the first time that the Thunder have appeared in the NBA Finals since 2012 and the Pacers' first trip to the championship round since 2000. Here are some other notable tidbits from Silver's appearance: The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery had plenty of fireworks, as the Dallas Mavericks — who were 11th in the lottery seeding with a 1.8 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick — won the lottery. Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz, who had the worst record in the NBA, fell from first to fifth, and the Washington Wizards fell from second to sixth. Dallas is expected to take Duke star and 2024-25 AP Player of the Year Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick. The Mavericks, shooting up from No. 11 to No. 1 in the draft order after trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February, drew criticism from the basketball world about the authenticity of the NBA Draft lottery. Silver provided his perspective on that narrative. "The worst-performing team had a 14 percent chance of winning [the lottery], which means there was an 86 percent chance they wouldn't get it," Silver said. "Dallas had roughly a two percent chance [to win it]. The team that lost the most had a seven times better chance. Two percent is two percent. It's going to happen. When people say 'and therefore the lottery was broken,' I have a different view. "The purpose of the lottery is to disincentive teams from tanking. Here, you had a team — regardless of whatever people think of that [Dončić] trade — that was trying to win. Then, Kyrie [Irving] got injured. Then, Anthony Davis got injured, and so, then they found themselves in the lottery. Odds are odds, and that's how it turned out." The NBA has dabbled in several All-Star game formats in recent memory, the most recent one seeing four teams playing against each other in a tournament. Those teams were made up of two NBA All-Star teams, a Rising Stars team and a "World Team." While Silver said that he wasn't "exactly sure what the format will be" for the 2026 All-Star Game, the commissioner expressed that he felt this year's "4-Nations Face-off" was a "huge success" and could serve as a potential model for the NBA. The "4-Nations Face-off" saw the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden compete in a round-robin event earlier this year, with Canada defeating the United States in overtime of the title game. The NHL has several players who grew up outside the United States, primarily in Canada, while the NBA has several superstars who played internationally before coming to the NBA (e.g. three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Doncic). On that note, each of the last two No. 1 picks in the NBA Draft (Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher) were players who competed professionally in France, with each of the first two selections in the 2024 NBA Draft (Alex Sarr, who played in Australia prior to being selected, was the No. 2 pick) being international selections. Is the United States losing its luster as the basketball empire of the globe? "I think there are things that Europe is doing better than we are in terms of training. I feel a bit defensive about the American players because it's not for a lack of a work ethic," Silver said. "In Little League, you have pitch counts for young pitchers. If you look at what's happening in AAU, in many cases, you have young players playing 6-8 games for two-to-three days at these tournaments. And I get it, if you're a young player and that's the game that Rick Pitino's coming to or whatever else, and you and the people around you feel he needs to see you play and your knee's throbbing because you're 15 years old, you're still going to play. "And I think it's another area that the NBA needs to get more involved in, and we've had these discussions with the NCAA just to have more oversight over youth basketball, because there's nothing more important to us than making sure that those elite players grow up to be team basketball players and not just have great skills but understand how to win games." Silver has been the NBA Commissioner since succeeding David Stern in February 2014. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!

UConn's Dan Hurley addresses Knicks coaching rumors: 'Not another summer of that'
UConn's Dan Hurley addresses Knicks coaching rumors: 'Not another summer of that'

Fox News

time28 minutes ago

  • Fox News

UConn's Dan Hurley addresses Knicks coaching rumors: 'Not another summer of that'

The New York Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in a quarter-century last month, and head coach Tom Thibodeau was credited with helping the Knicks end the franchise's playoff drought. The Indiana Pacers won the series in six games and have moved on to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. While it was widely believed the Knicks' deep playoff run meant Thibodeau would return for a sixth season, the organization fired him Tuesday. The Knicks have kicked off a search for their next head coach. While Dan Hurley's name has been linked to the job opening, the UConn head coach appears to have little interest in making the leap to the NBA. "Not another summer of that," Hurley told the Hartford Courant. This isn't the first time the two-time NCAA champion coach's name has been linked to NBA rumors. Last summer, Hurley flew to Los Angeles to speak with the Lakers about their coaching vacancy. Hurley declined a six-year contract offer from the Lakers in favor of returning to Storrs, Connecticut, to pursue a third consecutive title. Hurley coached the Huskies to the NCAA Division I tournament title in 2023 and 2024. After Hurley's rejection, the Lakers pivoted and hired JJ Redick. The decision was met with some criticism due to Redick's lack of experience. UConn had some ups and downs during the 2024-25 regular season and entered the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed. The Huskies lost to the Florida Gators in the second round. Florida defeated Houston in last month's national championship game. Hurley instead agreed to a six-year extension with UConn last summer. The deal ties him to the Huskies through the 2029 season. Elsewhere, another potential Knicks coaching candidate came off the board Wednesday when ESPN reported the Phoenix Suns had hired Jordan Ott as their next head coach. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store