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One half of the NBA Finals has been set, as the Oklahoma City Thunder have defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Game five of the Western Conference Finals kicked off last night, and the Thunder ended things with a proper gentleman’s sweep, gliding their way to a 124-94 win.
Playing at home, the Thunder was off to a quick start early in the game, immediately jumping to a 17-point lead in the first quarter, which also ended with the Wolves scoring only nine points.
Things didn’t improve much as the first half ended, as OKC’s overwhelming defense was on full display, outscoring them 65-32. The lead ballooned to as much as 37 points, and of course, all scoring was led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who proved why he deserved this year’s regular season MVP award by dropping 34 points along with eight assists and seven rebounds.
His teammates helped round out the game as Chet Holmgren scored 22 points and three blocks, topped off by Jalen Williams’ 19 points and an eight-rebound performance.
Gilgeous-Alexander credits the win to the team playing cohesive and going hard on both ends of the floor.
“It almost seemed like we did everything we were supposed to do,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN after the game. “We made it tough on the guys we were supposed to make it tough on. Well, I thought it was tough for everybody. 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.”
This is the most success the Thunder have seen since 2012, when they advanced to the finals with James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant — which, in retrospect, was a super team — but the Miami Heat defeated them.
On the other side of the ball was the Wolves, who lost the Western Conference finals for the second consecutive year, and team star Anthony Edwards, who scored 19 points, acknowledged that the Thunder got the best of them.
“They were the better team. They came out and beat us, punched us in the face, and we lost the game, we lost the series,” he said.
But with the season over, Ant-Man is already looking forward to next season and is ready to grind all summer, acknowledging team veteran Mike Conley.
“I’m going to work my butt off this summer. Nobody is going to work harder than me this summer. I’ll tell you that much,” he said. I’ll try to make it happen again for Mike.”
See how social media is reacting to the win below.