Oklahoma City Thunder 124, Minnesota Timberwolves 94 (FINAL)

🏆OKC: Best in the West

Thunder 124, Timberwolves 94

The Oklahoma City Thunder closed out the Western Conference Finals in emphatic fashion with a 30-point win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Thunder jumped out to a 26-9 lead after one quarter and never looked back.

Kia NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, was terrific yet again with 34 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and two steals. It wasn’t just the offensive firepower that was impressive from OKC; the defensive stopping power stood out as well. The Thunder held Minnesota to just 15% from the floor in the opening period and 32% in the first half while shooting 52 percent themselves. The Thunder also forced 21 turnovers on the night, which was the second game in a row where they’ve turned the T’Wolves over that many times.

The Thunder, of course, have their sights set on winning a title, but tonight represents a significant achievement. The team has had a rapid ascent to becoming the top team in the Western Conference. It coincides with the ascensions of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. 

The team was the No.1 seed in the West a year ago but lacked the postseason experience to get past the veteran-laden Mavericks. This year, the Thunder have gone to another level. After winning 68 games in the regular season to lock up the 1 seed again, the Thunder cruised past the Grizzlies in the first round and showed championship-level grit by outlasting the Nuggets in seven games to advance to the Western Conference Finals. 

Outside of Game 3, the Thunder showed they can win in a variety of ways in this series. They can flex their muscle and run teams off the floor when everything is clicking, as evidenced in Games 1 and 5. They have four wins this postseason by 30-or-more points.

And they also showed they can absorb anybody’s best shot and still come out on top, as evidenced by their gritty 128-126 win in Minnesota to swing the series 3-1 in their favor.

Whether it’s the Pacers or the Knicks awaiting them in the Finals, the Thunder look every bit ready to meet the moment.  

This marks the Thunder’s first NBA Finals appearance since 2012.

OKC IS GOING TO THE FINALS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2012 ⛈️👏#NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV pic.twitter.com/V76R56Adsu

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2025

😎 Taking it all in

Watch as the Thunder receive the Oscar Robertson Trophy as the Western Conference Champions for 2024-2025.

What a moment for the @okcthunder 🏆 https://t.co/m3OvyTPIm0 pic.twitter.com/xa2F7RBEtY

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2025

This is the Thunder’s second Finals appearance and first since the 2011-12 season.

👉 Top NBA Takeaways Tonight

• Thunder punch ticket for NBA Finals: The Oklahoma City Thunder had no interest in letting the Timberwolves get back into this series. Up 3-1 with a home game for Game 5, the Thunder rumbled out of the gate and the Timberwolves never recovered. Oklahoma City went on to score at least 120 points for the second time this series and held the T’Wolves under 100 points for the second time as well. It was an emphatic coronation for Oklahoma City as the preeminent team in the Western Conference. Now, the NBA Finals await.
• SGA shows why he’s MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP credentials were on display tonight with a masterful performance to close out the Western Conference Finals and deliver the Thunder to their first Finals appearance since 2012. SGA went for 34 points, marking his fourth game of the series with at least 30. It’s no coincidence that the Thunder won each of those games. As SGA goes, so does OKC. Gilgeous-Alexander picked up some additional hardware by winning the Magic Johnson Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 2025 Western Conference Finals.
• End of the road for Minnesota: The Timberwolves made their second consecutive Western Conference Finals this year with a terrific season led by Anthony Edwards. Unfortunately for Minnesota, they ran into an uber-talented Thunder team that was clicking at the right time.  

🥇 Top NBA performers tonight

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder: 34 points (14-25 FG), eight assists, seven rebounds, two steals en route to earning the Earvin “Magic” Johnson Trophy as the Western Conference Finals MVP.
• Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder: 22 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and zero turnovers in closeout win over Timberwolves.
• Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder: 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one block in closeout win over Timberwolves.

🫡 Curtain call time

The Thunder have called off the dogs up by over 30 points with time winding down in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.

Standing ovation for OKC’s starters as they check out of Game 5 👏 pic.twitter.com/Mlk3RhgKxv

— ESPN (@espn) May 29, 2025

😤 Thunder are on a mission

SGA powers into the lane and finishes through contact for the and-one. The MVP is up to 34 points to go with eight assists and seven rebounds through 34 minutes of work. The Thunder are holding a commanding lead north of 30 points as we reach the halfway point of the fourth quarter.

AND ONEEEEE 💪 pic.twitter.com/ELCydYMSxS

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 29, 2025

⌛ Fourth Quarter time in OKC

Thunder 88, Timberwolves 62

The Timberwolves outscored the Thunder 30-23 in the third but still have quite the mountain to climb going into the fourth.

Anthony Edwards was 4-for-7 from the floor in the third after going 3-for-10 in the first half. He’s up to 19 points on the night.

Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has poured in 28 points (12-23 FG, 3-3 FT) to lead all scorers.

Tune in for the fourth quarter now on ESPN.

👌 https://t.co/ZD2x5LdiXM pic.twitter.com/3J6qosMnMT

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 29, 2025

🚧 Do not enter

OKC’s bigs, Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, are making it tough for the Timberwolves to get points in the paint tonight. Peep this sequence where each big protects the rim. The Timberwolves have just 24 points in the paint as we reach the final minutes of the third quarter. The Thunder lead by 24.

Whole lotta rim protection right here 😤 pic.twitter.com/6LSxrcJhs3

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 29, 2025

🔥Thunder up big at the half

Thunder 65, Timberwolves 32

The Thunder have made a statement through two quarters and have a commanding 33-point lead going into the second half.

Oklahoma City blitzed Minnesota in the opening frame, building a 26-9 advantage. Minnesota’s offense perked up in the second with 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting (47%) after shooting 15 percent in the opening frame. Still, Minnesota will need to string together two huge quarters in order to close the game with OKC and save its season.

Oklahoma City has been led by its Big 3 as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (20), Chet Holmgren (15) and Jalen Williams (15) have combined for 50 out of 65 points thus far. The Thunder have also been lockdown defensively and are turning the Timberwolves over at an extremely high rate, which has been a trend in this series. The Timberwolves have committed 14 turnovers compared to the Thunder’s four. That has fueled a 14-2 fastbreak points advantage for OKC.

Will the Timberwolves make a late push, or is it OKC’s night to punch its ticket to the Finals? Catch the second half on ESPN.

SGA 20 FIRST HALF POINTS.

OKC WITH THE LEAD AT HALFTIME ON ESPN! pic.twitter.com/AX2mCkXOkg

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2025

📸 Jalen Williams hits the freeze frame

Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams did it all by himself on this sequence, swiping the steal and going the distance for the lay-in. He stopped on a dime in the lane to shed Terrence Shannon Jr.’s pursuit and glided in for the easy finish.

Williams is up to nine points and five rebounds with a +21 +/- as the Thunder continue to build on a 53-27 lead mid-way through the second.

TURN US UP, @jdubwttp 🔋 pic.twitter.com/zn1SLKC8ZZ

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 29, 2025

😯 All OKC after one quarter

Thunder 26, Timberwolves 9

The Thunder have come out on fire and look like a team that has its sights set on closing out the Western Conference Finals tonight. The Thunder, led by a combined 19 points from SGA (12) and Chet Holmgren (7) are already in a groove offensively. On defense, the Thunder are making the Timberwolves work for every point thus far.

The Timberwolves are 3-for-20 from the floor and 1-for-9 from deep. The Timberwolves will need to figure out a solution on offense, and quickly, before the game slips out of hand.

CASON WALLACE BEATS THE 1Q BUZZER ON ESPN 😱 pic.twitter.com/6uzQxL7uuA

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2025

Defense ➡️ Offense

OKC’s Alex Caruso continues to shine on the defensive end and create opportunities on offense. This steal led to an easy dunk for SGA in transition.

The Thunder have jumped out to a 23-7 lead using a familiar formula we’ve seen before in this series: efficient offense and tenacious defense. The Thunder are shooting 50 percent from the floor and holding the T’Wolves to just 16.7 percent on the other end.

Caruso’s steal leads to the uncontested SGA dunk 🔥

OKC looking to clinch a Finals berth with a win in Game 5 👀 pic.twitter.com/LsTSa2vBzU

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 29, 2025

🌩️Thunder rolling early

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finds Chet Holmgren for the slam in transition to spark an 8-0 run for the Thunder and put them up 11-3. Holmgren has led the scoring charge thus far with seven points in six minutes of work. Catch the action now on ESPN.

Shai ➡️ Chet for the slam!

1Q of Wolves (1-3) Thunder Game 4 is underway on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/vyJXZS8cs9

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2025

📊Timberwolves vs Thunder Game 5 matchup

The Western Conference Finals shift back to OKC for Game 5 with the Thunder looking to clinch their spot in the Finals in front of the home crowd. They’ll have to go through a motivated Timberwolves squad whose season is on the brink.

The newly minted Kia NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, has lived up to the billing thus far in the series. He’s averaging 30.8 points per game to go with 8.3 assists. The Thunder have also played terrific team defense and held T’Wolves star, Anthony Edwards, in check.

Edwards’ ability to get into his groove will be a key storyline in tonight’s matchup.

In our Five Takeaways piece from Game 4, our Shaun Powell detailed the Thunder’s defensive plans to limit Edwards’ effectiveness. The combination of Lu Dort and Alex Caruso gave Edwards little breathing room and prevented him from getting to his spot or finding open looks.

““I got to take shots but not selfish shots. They were shooting the gaps. I just didn’t get enough chances to shoot the ball. It was what they were doing, not what I didn’t do,” Edwards said.

If the Thunder deploy a similar defensive game plan, it’ll be on the Minnesota supporting cast to pick up the slack on the offensive end. Julius Randle, who was acquired just before the season, will play a bigger role, as will the likes of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo as scoring sparks off the bench.

Timberwolves lineup

the five for game five. pic.twitter.com/sapxaUznN2

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 29, 2025

Thunder lineup

Our 5️⃣ for Game 5️⃣⚡️ pic.twitter.com/g7hWFZlOxh

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 29, 2025

👉 WCF Game 5 Storylines

• Thunder look to clinch: The Thunder are on the doorstep of punching their ticket to the NBA Finals as they lead 3-1 going into tonight’s game at home vs. the Timberwolves.
• Timberwolves on the brink: Down 3-1, the Timberwolves’ season is on the line tonight. To make matters tougher, they’ll have to get a win in a very tough road environment. In the first two games of the series, the Timberwolves lost by 26 and 15 points, respectively.
• ECF Game 5 lookahead: The Eastern Conference Finals shift back to New York on Thursday with the Knicks looking to stave off elimination against the Pacers, who won Game 4 in dramatic fashion to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.