We do this thing as sports fans where we say a team or player can’t win it all, until they do. Some fans wanted to break up Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston until the organization’s patience paid off with a banner No. 18. It’s not new — there was a time when it was popular to say Michael Jordan couldn’t win the big one — and it’s not just basketball, ask the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts.
There were plenty of fans and some knowledgeable people inside basketball heading into the playoffs who were not convinced that Oklahoma City was any more than a good regular-season team.
All those questions have been answered. Those critics have been silenced.
“These guys are uncommon. They do everything right. They’re high character,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
With a chance to make the NBA Finals on the line, the Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves, 124-94, to take the series 4-1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 and was rightfully named Western Conference Finals MVP.
Oklahoma City will host Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 5. The Thunder will be heavy favorites to win the title, regardless of whether the Pacers or Knicks come to town next week.
While SGA was fantastic and Chet Holmgren added 22 points and Jalen Williams 19, it was the Thunder defense that won them this game, and this series. Oklahoma City came out on Wednesday with defensive pressure that once again had Minnesota on its heels, and the Timberwolves started the game 1-of-11, putting them in a hole.
That hole only got deeper.
The Timberwolves shot just 3-of-20 in the first quarter. Minnesota scored 32 first-half points with an offensive rating of 61.5 (compared to 125 for Oklahoma City), and they trailed by 33 at that point. Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards combined for `17 first half points on 17 shot attempts with five turnovers.
The Timberwolves had 21 turnovers in this game, limiting those was a key coming into the series but something they proved unable to do. While the Timberwolves made a couple of pushes, the game was never in doubt in the final 24 minutes.
“We just struggled to find a rhythm,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Everyone was kind of trying to do it all by themselves. We lost our connectivity. But all credit to the Thunder. They certainly deserve this.”
They do. And OKC has proved it is more than a regular season team.
