Clap of Thunder. This one was over before it even got started.
A better and much deeper Oklahoma City Thunder roster brought the Minnesota Timberwolves to their knees from the opening tip Wednesday night and rolled to a 30-point victory, 124-94, in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
The landslide secured a 4-1 series for the Thunder and a coveted spot in the NBA Finals. There, the Thunder will be overwhelming favorites to secure the franchise’s first NBA championship since they moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 from Seattle, no matter the opposition.
“The focus through the distraction of a closeout game to go to the Finals is what was most impressive,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I mean, they were laser focused today, and that allowed our best to come to the surface.”
The Thunder were no doubt the best team in the NBA all regular season with 68 wins and looked very much poised to challenge for the title after demolishing the Timberwolves in what was largely a dominant run through the Western Conference playoffs.
Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets gave the Thunder somewhat of a scare in a heavyweight fight, seven-game test in the Second Round. But the Thunder closed out the series with a Game 7 blowout over a nucleus that led the Nuggets to a championship in 2023 over the Miami Heat. The Thunders depth and intensity on both ends of the floor in the end wore the Nuggets down.
Outside of that dog fight, the West was a piece of cake for the Thunder, whose smothering defense and efficient offense were considerably more than either the Memphis Grizzlies or Timberwolves could handle. Look no further than Wednesday night’s first quarter for evidence.
The Timberwolves got on the board first with a 3-point shot by Julius Randle, who has been quiet over the last few games. They did not register a single point again until an Anthony Edwards layup with 6:53 left in the quarter, mercifully ended a 1-for-11 drought from the field.
By the time the first quarter was over, the Thunder had opened the flood gates with a 26-9 lead and limited the Timberwolves to their lowest output in any quarter this season. Cason Wallace added insult to injury with a 3-pointer to beat the first-quarter buzzer on a pass from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Embed from Getty Images“It almost seemed like we did everything we were supposed to do,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 34 points and eight dimes to put the finishing touches on his Western Conference finals MVP performance. “We made it tough on the guys we were supposed to make it tough on. Well, I thought it was tough for everybody [on the Timberwolves]. We were clicking on all cylinders as far as what their tendencies are, what our game plan is, how we want to impact the game, how we want to impact the ball.
“Then from there, we were able to just run and have fun and be ourselves. It really starts with defense for us.”
The Timberwolves shot an embarrassing 3 of 20 from the field in the opening frame. They bricked all nine of their 3-point attempts. Edwards (six points) and Randle (three points) were the only Timberwolves players to score. Gilgeous-Alexander (12 points) outscored the Timberwolves by himself.
As stated previously, Oklahoma City’s MVP did a little of everything, filling up the stat sheet with 34 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and two steals. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 14 of 25 from the field in another sensational and efficient playoff performance that ended with him earning Western Conference finals MVP via a unanimous vote. It is like a great singer hitting all the notes.
The uninspiring first-quarter effort signaled that the Timberwolves season was, indeed, over. There was no relief in sight in the second quarter, and the Thunder entered halftime with a 65-32 lead. By that point, the Timberwolves had more turnovers (14) than made field goals (12). Those turnovers, more times than not, turned into points for Oklahoma City.
The only question remaining after halftime was whether Oklahoma City would challenge the record for the largest margin of victory in postseason history (58 points) that they had flirted with previously in the first round against the Grizzlies.
The Timberwolves had enough pride to stop that from happening on their watch and played a competitive third quarter that they won, 30-23. Their refusal to fold like cheap tents after getting overwhelmed in the first half can stand as a point of pride for a team that advanced to the Western Conference finals in back-to-back years.
But make no mistake about it. The Timberwolves never stood a chance in this game or this series.
The Thunder controlled every relevant category. They forced 21 Timberwolves turnovers on Wednesday. They secured the rebounding margin 46-39. They outshot the Timberwolves from the field (52.3% to 41.2%) from beyond the arc (40% to 35.3%) and from the free-throw line (85.7% to 80%).
Chet Holmgren, who is a star in the making, had 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks against his hometown team and Jalen Williams contributed 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, joining Gilgeous-Alexander with sparkling efforts to cap another big game from Oklahoma City’s Big 3.
Randle, 24 points, 5 rebounds, and Edwards, 19 points, 6 rebounds, were the only Timberwolves starters to score more than five points. 18-year veteran Mike Conley, who was devasted after the game, went scoreless. Four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert scored two points on a single field-goal attempt. Jaden McDaniels shot 2 of 13 from the field in a five-point effort.
The Timberwolves did not have the recipe or the formula to beat the Thunder.
The Thunder now stand a mere four wins away from securing an NBA title. Barring a miracle Knicks rally from a 3-1 deficit, OKC will face an Indiana Pacers team led by the surge to super stardom of Tyrese Haliburton.
But Haliburton and the Pacers have not gone head-to-head with anything like this Thunder defense during their sensational playoff run. In the unlikely instance of a Knicks rally, neither has New York. The Thunder swept both teams in the regular season while winning three of the four meetings by double-digit margins.
Whoever advances out of the East will face an uphill battle against a Thunder team that looks very poised to rise to the rank of NBA champion. The Finals begin Thursday, June 5 on ABC.
