Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder, the surprises of the Western Conference
Despite not starting as big favorites at the beginning of the season, they are beating franchises like the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Voz Media-Cordon Press)
Halfway through the NBA regular season, the Boston Celtics are asserting their status as one of the big favorites to win the Ring. Thanks to the records of the tandem made up of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown - plus the numbers contributed by Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, among others - they are granting the green and white franchise dominance of the Eastern Conference so far, with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers as the immediate pursuers. The situation is different in the Western Conference, where two teams are surprising.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder are prevailing in the Western Conference standings over other franchises that have a greater degree of favoritism, such as the Denver Nuggets - current NBA champions -, the Los Angeles Clippers or the Phoenix Suns. The balance of the latter, so far, is leaving much to be desired.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Although they did not start as great contenders to win the Ring before the 2023-2024 season began, the Timberwolves currently lead the Western Conference with a balance above expectations. The Minneapolis-based franchise never stood out in any season except on one occasion. The only time it was up to par was in the 2003-2004 campaign, when that team led by Kevin Garnett lost the Western finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that ended up winning the title that year. In the rest of his participation in the playoffs - which were not many - he did not advance beyond the first round.
Anthony Edwards is captaining the West´s leaders. In his fourth season playing in the NBA, the young shooting guard (22 years old) from Atlanta (Georgia) is really shining and averaging decent records that reflect that he can be one of the great leaders of the next generation.
To him, we must add the contribution of the American center with a Dominican passport Karl-Anthony Towns (28 years old), and Frenchman Rudy Gobert (31 years old).
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder looking to make amends and compensate their fans with an exciting year after several seasons away from being among the best franchises in the NBA. Like the Oklahoma City Thunder, they´ve never won the Ring - the only one they have in their showcases was the one achieved in the 1978-1979 campaign under the name of the Seattle Supersonics - but they have played in three conference finals. They even reached the NBA finals in the 2011-2012 season - however, they lost to the Miami Heat.
This year, the City Thunder is exceeding expectations, thanks in large part to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. His performance this season has been brilliant: the Canadian point guard is averaging more than 30 points and more than 6 assists per game. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are other notable names for the Oklahoma City-based franchise.
If they manage to maintain the pace as they have been up to now, there is no doubt that the Timberwolves and the Thunder will be two of the participants in the next playoffs, which is set to begin on April 20.
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