OKC Annihilates Minnesota, Ends 13-year Finals Trip Drought

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

We just witnessed one of the most clinical closeout performances in an NBA Conference Finals setting.

Only a win away from booking a return ticket to the NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder meant pure business after man-handling the Minnesota Timberwolves, 124-94, to wrap up their Western Conference Finals series in just five games on May 29, 2025.

With the lopsided dub, the Thunder ended its 13-year NBA Finals drought and will have the chance to achieve what Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden failed to do in 2012 against the Miami Heat.

Oklahoma immediately blew the game wide open in the first 12 minutes of Game 5 after holding the Timberwolves to their worst-quarter scoring output in the entire playoffs with just nine points.

The Thunder drew flashes of games 1 & 2 when they swarmed Minnesota with their signature pesky defense, the main reason why the Timberwolves only managed to produce nine points in a single frame.

A steal from the elbow, a swipe from behind, and multiple taps in Minnesota’s drives, man, Oklahoma’s stifling defensive game is just out of this world.

During the 48-minute game, Oklahoma tallied a total of 14 steals, eight blocks, forced 21 turnovers, and scored a total of 19 fast break points.

That’s insane.

What hurt the Timberwolves the most was after that defensive masterclass in the first quarter, they failed to trim their deficit to a single-digit and continued to play catch-up until the final buzzer sounded.

Whatever offensive scheme Minnesota head coach Chris Finch deployed to counter Oklahoma’s suffocating defense, the rest of the Thunder answered back with a more amped-up intensity in reading the passing lanes while switching things up in the perimeter with precision.

When Oklahoma scored effortlessly, Minnesota visibly struggled to buy an easy bucket, scoring only 32 points in the first half en route to a 33-point advantage for the Thunder heading to the final two halves.

From that point, the game was pretty much over. Although Minnesota won the third with a seven-point margin, they still had to cut an enormous 26-point lead in front of a loud and energized Paycom Center.

Icing the game for the Thunder are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaylen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Lugentz Dort, who steered Oklahoma to a hot start in the fourth that ballooned their cushion back to 30 points.

Minnesota kept on fighting but the Thunder’s defensive brilliance prevented them from making any dramatic come-from-behind run and protected their gigantic lead which led to Finch’s bench clearing.

SGA led the Thunder with another stellar performance, dropping 34 points built from an efficient 14/25 shooting from the field in just 33 minutes of playing time.

The Canadian superstar also tallied a near triple-double stat-line as he also had eight assists, seven rebounds, and two steals. Backstopping SGA in the Game 5 win were Holmgren and Williams, who delivered 22 and 19 points, respectively.

On the other hand, this is Minnesota’s second straight exit in the NBA Western Conference Finals. In the win-or-go-home scenario, Julius Randle led them with 24 markers, while Anthony Edwards only produced 19 derived from 7/18 shooting from the field.