Thunder advance to NBA Finals with thrashing of Minnesota

With 34 points from MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder crushed the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94 on Wednesday and qualified for the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.

Oklahoma City, which ended the Western Conference Finals against the Wolves, 4-1, will arrive as a big favorite in the fight for the ring against the Indiana Pacers or the New York Knicks.

With their crowd of 18,000 fans, the Thunder showed no mercy in their first chance to knock off Minnesota, which fell one step away from the Finals for the second straight year.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the season, tore apart the visiting defense with a final display of 34 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists.

The Canadian point guard was picked the MVP of a Conference Finals in which he averaged 31.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game.

"It's a wonderful feeling, something you dream about as a kid," said SGA upon collecting the trophy.

The 26-year-old point guard briefly recalled the complicated beginnings he experienced in Oklahoma City upon his arrival in 2019, traded from the Los Angeles Clippers, when the Thunder were beginning a long rebuild.

"The first couple of years I got here there were some really tough times on this court, not fun times at all. And these fans have been there for us through thick and thin. For that we are very grateful to them, first and foremost," the Canadian told the crowd.

Although he led his team to the best record in the league in the regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander said he still has an eye on the big goal of winning the Finals, which will get underway on June 5.

"I still have a lot of growing to do. We have a lot of work ahead of us to reach our ultimate goal," he stressed.

Center Chet Holmgren and forward Jalen Williams, the other Thunder stars, contributed with 22 and 19 points, respectively.

After racking up 68 regular-season wins, the most in the league by any team since 2016, the Thunder are now the youngest Finals team since 1977, averaging 25.6 years of age. 

Edwards disappoints

The Timberwolves, a franchise that has still never made an NBA Finals, acknowledged the superiority of Oklahoma City, the only initial title favorite that is still standing in these Playoffs, after the fall of other contenders such as the Celtics or the Cavaliers.

"We got beat by the better team," conceded Minnesota coach Chris Finch after watching his players score just nine points in the first quarter.

The visitors, who missed 10 of their first 11 shots, had no ability to react and were already down 65-32 at halftime before finding themselves down by as much as 37 points.

Their young leader, Anthony Edwards, was held to 19 points on 7-18 shooting from the field, while center Julius Randle scored 24.

"When you lose a game like that there's not much to analyze," Edwards acknowledged.

"They did what they had to do to win. They dominated the game from the start, hats off to them," conceded the talented shooting guard, whose playoff performance paled in comparison to Gilgeous-Alexander's.

The Canadian, the season's leading scorer, continues to build on his breakthrough year as the NBA's new superstar.

His latest challenge will be to deliver the title to a franchise that has won only in 1979, before the move to Oklahoma City, when they were the Seattle Supersonics.

Their last attempt was in 2012 with the star trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, who succumbed 4-1 to a Miami Heat with another "Big 3": LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

"This is a step in the right direction. But we still have a lot of work to do," Gilgeous-Alexander warned. "That's what we're going to focus on. So buckle up and get ready."

Oklahoma City's opponent for the title will be either the Knicks or the Pacers, with the latter currently ahead in the East Finals 3-1.