Thunder Send Timberwolves Home with Emphatic Victory in Game 5

The Oklahoma City Thunder punched their ticket to their first NBA Finals since 2012 with an undeniable 124-94 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night. With the 33 point victory, the Thunder are the first team in league playoff history to win four games by 30+ points. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put forth his 11th 30-point game of the playoffs with 34 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds on 14-for-25 shooting. Chet Holmgren shot 8-for-13 for 22 points with 7 rebounds, and Lu Dort complemented with 12 points on 4-for-10. 

The Thunder played suffocating defense all night as they had most of the series. Anthony Edwards scored 19 points on 7-for-18 and 1-for-7 from downtown while Julius Randle did have a decent game with 24 points and 5 rebounds on 8-for-14 including 5-for-6 from 3-point range. 

Oklahoma City brought intense ball pressure and dominated early en route to a 26-9 first quarter in which the Timberwolves had more turnovers than field-goals made. The Thunder were 11-for-23 in the first while the Timberwolves were 3-for-20. 

In the second, a Chet Holmgren slam gave the Thunder a 20 point lead, 34-14, and a Jalen Williams strip of Naz Reid and finish put the Thunder up by 22, leading to a Minnesota timeout. The Wolves had seven turnovers and five field-goals made to this point in the game. 

At the 8:06 mark, a Holmgren three blew the game open at 41-15, and moments later a Cason Wallace steal made the score 48-20. In the final minute of the half, Jalen Williams scored on a jumper to give the Thunder a 61-30 lead, and Gilgeous-Alexander (20 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds on 8-of-14 in the half) scored on a lefty layup to give the Thunder their 65-32 halftime lead. The 33-point advantage was the largest halftime lead in Thunder franchise history. 

The Timberwolves picked up their effort in the third quarter, eventually getting as close as 23 after an Edwards jump shot. The Thunder offense continued to roll on, however, with Dort hitting from distance on multiple occasions and Gilgeous-Alexander attacking and also hitting triples. A long corner jump shot by Holmgren made the score 98-69 with 9:19 remaining, and two Dort trifectas in the two and a half minutes led to a Timberwolves’ timeout. Trailing 106-72, Chris Finch cleared his bench. 

Alex Caruso played well off the Thunder bench with 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 24 minutes, including tight defense on Randle. A bright spot for the Timberwolves was Naz Reid, who scored 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting. 

The Thunder shot 52.3% from the field while holding the Timberwolves to 41.2%, and made 14 of their 35 triples while the Timberwolves made 12 of their 34 attempts from deep. The Thunder outrebounded the Timberwolves 46-39 and committed 14 turnovers to the Wolves’ 21. 

For the Thunder, a season that saw them go 68-14 and be the best team in the league on both ends will see them make their first NBA Finals’ appearance since 2012. 

The Timberwolves, meanwhile, head into the offseason with an abrupt thud, their 49 regular wins morphing into two impressive five-game series wins in rounds one and two. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is a free agent and Randle and Reid both have player options ($30.9 million and $15 million). The roster does have Terrence Shannon Jr. who gave quality minutes in the series (24 years old) and 20-year-old rookie Rob Dillingham who saw 10 minutes in two playoff games but is young and could develop to eventually be their point guard of the future. Jaden McDaniels is a terrific “3 and D” guy, and Donte DiVincenzo can shoot it as well. What their bench lacks though is “3 and D” type players. Mike Conley, who will be 38 in October, could be headed for retirement. If so, the Wolves will be in the market for a starting point guard.