Timberwolves-Thunder matchup: A look inside the Western Conference finals

Best-of-seven series

Tuesday: at Oklahoma City, Paycom Center, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Thursday: at Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Saturday: at Target Center, 7:30 p.m., Ch. 5

Monday, May 26: at Target Center, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, May 28: at Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (if necessary)

Friday, May 30: at Target Center, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (if necessary)

Sunday, June 1: at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m., ESPN (if necessary)

Timberwolves

G Anthony Edwards (regular-season averages; 27.6 points, 4.5 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.2 steals), G Mike Conley Jr. (8.2 points, 4.5 assists), F Jaden McDaniels (12.2 points, 5.7 rebounds), F Julius Randle (18.7 points, 4.7 assists, 7.1 rebounds), C Rudy Gobert (12.0 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.4 blocks)

Thunder

G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals), G Jalen Williams (21.6 points, 5.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals), F Luguentz Dort (10.1 points), F Isaiah Hartenstein (11.2 points, 10.7 rebounds), C Chet Holmgren (15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.2 blocks).

Oklahoma City: The Thunder’s 68-14 regular season smashed the franchise record for victories and made them the seventh team in NBA history to win that many games. They won 54 of those 68 by double digits, a record. Oh, and they outscored the opposition by 12.9 points per game, highest in league history. The Thunder started the regular season with the NBA’s youngest roster, with an average age of 24.

Timberwolves: Their 49-33 regular-season record — including winning 17 of their final 21 games — earned them a sixth seed and clinched a place in the NBA playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and 13th time in franchise history. Those four consecutive playoff appearances are the most for the franchise since Kevin Garnett led the Wolves to eight straight from 1997 to 2004.

Oklahoma City: The top-seeded Thunder swept Memphis in the first round, setting the tone in Game 1 by becoming the sixth team in NBA history to win a playoff game by at least 50 points. They did that 131-80 and completed a four-game sweep for the third time in team history.

Then they beat fourth-seeded Denver in the West semifinals despite losing Game 1 at home. They won a crucial Game 4 in Denver and finished the Nuggets off in seven games with Sunday’s 125-93 blowout victory in OKC.

Timberwolves: They beat both the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers and seventh-seed Golden State in five games each, although the Warriors played without superstar Stephen Curry in all but one game. The Wolves have won 10 playoff games on the road since the start of the 2024 playoffs, the most road playoff wins by any NBA team in that time.

Tied 2-2

Dec. 31, 2024: OKC 113, Wolves 105

The Thunder’s big third quarter (43-23) wiped away a first-half 12-point deficit and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 40-point night extended their winning streak to seven games and made New Year’s Eve even more festive in Oklahoma City.

Feb. 13, 2025. Wolves 116, OKC 101

Emergency starter Naz Reid’s 27 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists led a Wolves team missing injured starters Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley and Julius Randle to victory at home over the West’s best heading into the All-Star break.

Feb. 23, 2025. OKC 130, Wolves 123

Gilgeous-Alexander flirted with a triple-double — 37 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals — and led the visiting Thunder to victory in the first game of a back-to-back set. Minnesota’s own Chet Holmgren added 19 points for the Thunder.

Feb. 24, 2025. Wolves 131, OKC 128 (OT)

Anthony Edwards blocked Gilgeous-Alexander’s attempted go-ahead shot, Jared McDaniels scored 27 points, and the visiting Wolves rallied from a 25-point second-half deficit and won in overtime after the two teams played the night before in Minneapolis. It was the third game between the teams in 12 days.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, likely MVP

It’s presumptuous for now, but it probably won’t be much longer before he unseats Denver’s three-time winner, Nikola Jokic. Gilgeous-Alexander won his first regular-season scoring title by averaging 32.7 points on 51.9% shooting. He and Michael Jordan are the only guards in NBA history to average 30 points or more and shoot 50% or better from the field for three consecutive seasons. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points in Sunday’s Game 7 victory.

A scoring duel with Anthony Edwards could be the highlight of the playoffs.

Secondary story line: He is first cousin to Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The two also are teammates for Team Canada.

“If you know how close we are, he literally is like my second brother,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in a postgame news conference Sunday “He’s been through every stage of life with me, from picking up a basketball to going to prep school and making the NBA. We’ve gone through every situation with each other. For both of us to be where we are is special. To be competing against each other is even more special. But I am trying to take his head off, for sure.”

A homecoming for Holmgren

Minnehaha Academy’s own Chet Holmgren, of Minneapolis, is healthy again after a hip injury that he sustained in a game against Golden State sidelined him from early November to early February.

Because of a summer foot injury, he missed the entire first NBA season after he was drafted second overall in 2022 after one college season at Gonzaga. Holmgren played all 82 games in what became his rookie year in 2023-24 and missed another 50 games this season. But he is averaging 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in these playoffs.

He will be home in Minnesota for Games 3 and 4 as well as 6 if needed.

Holmgren crashed Gilgeous-Alexander’s postgame ABC interview Sunday, asking: “Do you know who this is? It’s the MVP.”

Oh-oh

The Thunder forced 17 turnovers per game this season, most in the NBA. They forced 22 on Sunday alone, and it’s an area in which the Wolves have been susceptible at times this season, particularly later in games.

“That’s how we play,” said the Thunder’s Jalen Williams, who scored 24 points Sunday. “Our defense is not predicated on stealing the ball. You know what I mean? It’s more the approach we have and how competitive and how right we can be. How many rotations we can make? We’re trying to be as aggressive as possible and cover up for each other, and if that results in a turnover, great.”

The Wolves have depth in numbers with Naz Reid, Donte DiVincenzo and Alexander-Walker, among others, but they still make bad decisions in clutch situations.

The Thunder, in turn, helped transform their team by acquiring reserve Alex Caruso in a draft-week trade last summer that brought defense, shooting and a guy who won an NBA title in the bubble with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.

Mark Daigneault, Oklahoma City: The OKC social media world lambasted him for leaving Gilgeous-Alexander in the game with four fouls late in the second quarter of Game 6 in Denver, but he’s done something right since becoming head coach in 2020 and winning 68 regular-season games this season by, he says, putting his faith in his players.

Chris Finch, Wolves: With a 4-1 West semifinal series victory behind him, Finch now has won 20 NBA playoff games — all with the Wolves — and surpassed Flip Saunders as the all-time winningest Wolves coach in the playoffs.

The teams tied the regular-season series 2-2, but the Thunder’s ability to force turnovers and their home-court advantage against a Wolves team good on the road will make the difference. Thunder in 7.