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The Oklahoma City dominated the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94 at home to win the Western Conference finals in five games and advance to the NBA Finals. It is Oklahoma City’s first NBA Finals appearance since 2012.
It was a complete performance from both ends of the floor for Oklahoma City, who led by as much as 39. On offense, the Thunder shot 52.3 percent from the floor. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put together a closeout performance worthy of an MVP, tallying 34 points on 56 percent (14-of-25) shooting from the floor.
On defense, the Thunder suffocated the Timberwolves. They forced Minnesota to commit 21 turnovers and shoot 41.2 percent from the floor. Anthony Edwards finished with 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting.
Oklahoma City finished the regular season with the league’s best record (68-14). Now the Thunder are in the NBA Finals, looking to win the franchise’s first championship.
Oklahoma City awaits the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks.
GO FURTHER
NBA playoffs results and takeaways: Thunder earn trip to NBA Finals with rout of Wolves
This time, there might be no stopping them.
The Thunder advanced through the Western Conference Finals with a 4-1 series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Oklahoma City will meet the winner between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks when the Finals begin on June 5.
It will be the Thunder’s first appearance since Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden led the franchise to the NBA Finals in 2012. The Thunder lost 4-1 to the Miami Heat that season, giving LeBron James his first championship.
Now, the West’s top-seeded Thunder, despite entering the season as the league’s youngest team, will be the favorite to win it all. Gilgeous-Alexander is a major reason, and he showed why again with another dominant 34-point, seven-rebound, eight-assist closeout performance. Gilgeous Alexander averaged 31.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 8.2 assists in the series, earning Western Conference Finals MVP.
At halftime in Game 5, the Thunder hounded the Timberwolves into more turnovers (14) than made field goals (12). OKC’s lead stood at 33 at that point and swelled to as much as 37.
It was the Thunder’s sixth win by at least 15 points in their 16 postseason games.
Now, they are just four wins shy of capturing their first championship in the Oklahoma City era.
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A dominant first quarter by the finals-bound Thunder tested every ounce of the Timberwolves’ resolve before Game 5’s opening period ended.
Minnesota opened the night with its lowest-scoring quarter of the season as the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander began the early workings of another masterpiece. The Timberwolves’ nine first-quarter points were almost tripled by the MVP’s output via scoring and assists by then (24 points).
Stacks of missed shots, turnovers and defensive lapses made it impossible for the Timberwolves to get within striking distance. They took almost 20 minutes to crack the 20-point threshold, which should worry a team with a payroll over $200 million.
Although Minnesota has clinched more Western Conference finals berths in the last two seasons (well, two) than its 34 years of existence, most of the Timberwolves’ series against the Thunder showed the gap between both franchises. Of course, the latter’s finals run is another step in separating from the league, but Minnesota must gauge what steps to take to inch closer to the title round.
The possible free agencies of two key players (Julius Randle, Naz Reid), the future of an aging Mike Conley and the long-term viability of defensive anchor Rudy Gobert will be key puzzles for the Timberwolves to solve in an effort to get over the hump.
Which front office is the best in sports?
In 2024, the answer to that question is the Oklahoma City Thunder, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Baltimore Ravens. At least according to their front-office peers.
At the start of each season this year, The Athletic polled 40 executives and coaches in each of the four major leagues — MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL — and asked them to rank the top five front offices, in order, in their respective sport. We polled the same number of executives and coaches (40) each time and used the same scoring system to rank front offices: First-place votes were worth 10 points, second-place seven, third-place five, fourth-place three and fifth-place one.
The Athletic then published the front-office rankings from the various leagues throughout 2024.
While there are slight differences in the number of teams in the four leagues — MLB and the NBA have 30 teams while the NHL and NFL have 32 teams — and varying sizes of front offices across the leagues, the scoring system offers an opportunity to make an apples-and-oranges comparison of front offices across different sports based on how their peers rated them.
Check out the results below.
GO FURTHER
Which team has the best front office in ‘big four’ leagues? Execs vote on their peers
This is the first time the Oklahoma City Thunder have made the NBA Finals since 2012.
Which roster built by Sam Presti would you take?
2012 ➡️ 2025
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Less than 11 years ago, Mark Daigneault was named the head coach of the Thunder's D-League affiliate.
Today, he coached Oklahoma City into the NBA Finals.
The year is 2012. The Oklahoma City Thunder had a roster of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, James Harden and Kendrick Perkins. They finished with a 47-19 regular-season record in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season.
Durant led the Thunder in scoring, averaging 28 points per game. The Thunder lost just three games in the playoffs en route to the NBA Finals before losing to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in five games.
The 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder are the first team that ranked No. 1 in defensive efficiency to make the NBA Finals since the 2022 Boston Celtics. They will seek to be the first top-ranked defense to win the NBA Finals since the 2015 Golden State Warriors.
Via ESPN, the Thunder have the youngest average age of any team to reach in the NBA Finals since the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers.
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Timberwolves:
Thunder:
The Thunder wound up outscoring the Timberwolves by
in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.
Tonight was the first time that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made 10 shots in the paint in a playoff game.
Nothing else to say other than how profoundly disappointing this ending is to a season that was so impressive for the toughness and perseverance the Wolves displayed. This will linger far more than any one game normally does. And it should.
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FG %:
3FG %:
Rebounds:
Assists:
Steals:
Turnovers:
Final score of the 2025 Western Conference Finals:
The Oklahoma City Thunder will have homecourt advantage in the NBA Finals. This means Games 1 and 2 of the Finals will start in Oklahoma City and a potential do-or-die Game 7.
It will be an eleetric atmosphere at Paycom Center.
