Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder – Game 1
Date: May 20th, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM CDT
Location: Paycom Center
Television Coverage: ESPN/ESPN2
Radio Coverage: KFAN FM/Wolves App/iHeart Radio
Timberwolves vs. Thunder: Welcome to the Final Boss Level
You could feel it in the air the second Game 7 ended in Oklahoma City. Thunder confetti raining down. Nikola Jokic walking off like a war general who just ran out of troops. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander soaking in the spotlight. But 900 miles north, the Timberwolves were already waiting. Rested. Watching. Quietly sharpening the blades.
And now, after four days of anticipation so thick you could slice it with a butter knife, we have our answer: The Minnesota Timberwolves are heading to Oklahoma City for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Read that again. Let it settle in.
The Minnesota Timberwolves. Western. Conference. Finals.
Not a one-off. Not a feel-good, “glad we made it” type of run. This is real. This is happening. And the Wolves are not here to shake hands and smile politely. They’re here to take something that has never been theirs. Something that generations of Timberwolves fans have never seen: a trip to the NBA Finals.
But to do that, they’ll need to go through a Thunder team that has been the class of the league all year—a team that finished 19 games ahead of Minnesota in the standings, that plays like five knives coming at you from different angles, and that believes it is their time.
This is the kind of matchup where legacies are born.
How Did We Get Here?
Let’s rewind for a second. The Anthony Edwards Era didn’t exactly start with a coronation. In 2022, the Wolves blew double-digit leads against Memphis like it was a part-time job. In 2023, they limped into the playoffs without Jaden McDaniels or Naz Reid, and Denver politely escorted them out the side door. Last year, they finally made some noise—steamrolling the Suns, surviving Jokic in an all-time seven-game war, and then running into the Luka/Kyrie buzzsaw in the Western Finals.
And yet none of those teams felt like this team.
This version? It’s deeper. Tougher. Smarter. And, finally, unshackled by the weight of franchise history. They’ve dropped only two games this postseason. They punked the Lakers. They bodied the Warriors. They’ve handled adversity like a contender, and they’ve won with defense, depth, and a cold-bloodedness that feels, dare we say… sustainable.
But now comes the final boss.
The Thunder Aren’t Cute Anymore
Forget what you thought about Oklahoma City being a “year away.” That timeline got thrown in the shredder sometime in December. This team is young, yes—but they’re terrifying in that ‘we-don’t-know-we’re-supposed-to-lose’ kind of way.
They are relentless. They suffocate you with ball pressure. They hunt mismatches. And when you blink, they’re on a 12-0 run with Jalen Williams flying to the rim, Alex Caruso picking your pocket, and SGA strutting back like he’s already carved your tombstone.
Shai isn’t just a rising star—he’s here. Probably your MVP. And yet, for as dominant as he’s been, this series won’t be about him.
It’ll be about Anthony Edwards vs. the moment.
Ant vs. Shai: The Main Event
Let’s be honest. There’s a very real possibility that whoever wins this series becomes the face of the NBA for the next five years. Not in marketing-speak. Not in jersey sales. I mean on the floor, Game 6, down five with two minutes left, who-do-you-trust kind of face.
This is that series.
Anthony Edwards is the soul of the Timberwolves. He has the charisma, the alpha energy, the freakish athleticism, and the “I’m built for this” mindset. But this is the biggest stage he’s ever been on, and he’ll be facing a team that’s built to test every inch of his game.
The Thunder are long, switchable, disciplined. They will make him earn everything. But this is where legends make the leap. Ant’s had moments. Now it’s time to own a series.
If he can outduel Shai—if he can swing this series with takeover fourth quarters, statement dunks, dagger stepbacks—he’s officially that guy. There will be no more debates. No more projections. He will be a Finals-bound superstar, no asterisk needed.
Keys to Game 1
1. Ball Security Like Your Life Depends on It
This is not a drill. If you want to hand this game to OKC on a silver platter, just start turning the ball over. The Thunder are elite at generating steals and capitalizing on chaos. They are the NBA’s version of a Vegas card counter—always waiting for one sloppy pass or lazy dribble to flip the script. And when they do, it’s a jail break the other way.
We saw it in Game 7 against Denver: Jokic gets his pocket picked, suddenly Alex Caruso’s lobbing it to Jalen Williams and the place is melting. It happens that fast.
The Wolves aren’t exactly the ‘96 Bulls when it comes to taking care of the rock. Ant can be loose when he’s probing. Julius Randle has his “jump-in-the-air-with-no-idea” moments. And if Conley gets hunted defensively, he might get played off the floor, handing over ball-handling duties to guys like Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo, who aren’t exactly Chris Paul when it comes to tempo control.
This is the #1 key to the game. You cough it up? You lose. Full stop.
2. Put SGA in a Cage (and Lock the Door)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is like a horror movie villain—everything is deadly. His Eurostep is a bedtime story. His foul-drawing wizardry? Voodoo. His ability to get to his spot and rise up for a 16-foot dagger is Kevin Durant-level eerie.
That’s why this series is tailor-made for Jaden McDaniels. This is the matchup. This is the moment to make SGA work. Force him to see two bodies. Force him into tough angles. Cut off those slow-motion slithers before they begin.
Also: don’t take the bait. SGA is a foul-baiting genius, and the postseason has been slightly less kind to that style. You have to walk a fine line—be physical, but don’t get suckered. No ticky-tack reach-ins 30 feet from the hoop. No jumping into his pump fakes.
And let’s not sleep on the subplot here: Nickeil Alexander-Walker guarding his cousin. That’s backyard one-on-one energy on national TV. When NAW gets minutes on Shai, you know he’ll be locked in with family pride on the line.
Bonus option? Jaylen Clark. You need five hard fouls and ten minutes of pest defense? Send in the rookie and tell him to go ham.
3. Use the Size. Smash the Glass. Punish the Pipe Cleaners.
This is where the Wolves need to lean into their identity: They are bigger, stronger, meaner. Gobert. Randle. Naz Reid.
Chet Holmgren is a unicorn, yes, but he’s built like an air dancer at a used car lot. You can’t finesse this guy—you have to body him. Gobert needs to seal deep and make Chet feel every inch of that 260-pound French oak tree frame. Naz needs to hunt him on switches and put him in the weight room. Randle has to bully his way to the line and draw fouls on OKC’s thin frontcourt.
The Thunder survive by gang-rebounding and effort. Minnesota can’t allow themselves to get dragged into the deep end and drowned by offensive rebounds and second-chance points. Minnesota has to win the rebounding battle by 10+. Get extra possessions. Wear OKC down. This is a war of attrition, and the Wolves have more horses.
4. Defensive Rotations: No Mental Vacations
Look—OKC isn’t the ‘15 Warriors from deep. They don’t have Steph and Klay. But if you fall asleep on rotations, if you over-help on SGA, if you give Isaiah Joe or Lou Dort or Aaron Wiggins room to breathe—they will burn you.
The Thunder thrive off of broken plays. Swing-swing threes. Sloppy closeouts. Defenders standing and watching.
This is a game where the Wolves’ length and communication have to shine. The wings have to fly around. You need Ant to dig in on backside rotations. And for the love of Kevin Garnett, don’t leave Dort wide open in the corner just because he missed his first two. We’ve seen that movie before—it ends with him scoring 18 in the third quarter while you wonder what just happened.
5. Ant and Julius: Time to Be Legendary
This is the whole deal. This is the difference. OKC has Shai, and he’s a killer. But Minnesota has a duo that no other team left in the playoffs can really match.
If Julius Randle keeps playing like the best version of himself—facilitating, bullying mismatches, creating chaos—it completely alters how OKC has to defend. His passing has unlocked so much for this offense. If he starts the game 4-for-5 with a couple assists and some muscle rebounds, you’ll feel the momentum shift in real time.
And then there’s Anthony Edwards. The soul of this team. The head of the snake. The guy who’s been waiting for a playoff series like this.
Let’s be clear: he’s due. Ant has had big stretches. Highlight dunks. Swagger moments. But he hasn’t had that full-on, start-to-finish, drop-40-in-a-win kind of signature playoff game in 2025. He’s picked his spots, played smart basketball, deferred when needed. That’s all good.
But this series demands more.
This has to be Ant’s “I’m better than you” moment. Not a cute 22-5-4 on 7-of-16 shooting. We’re talking a 35-point, 3-steal, take-over-the-game fourth quarter. The kind of performance that gets the other team looking around like, “What the hell are we supposed to do?”
If Ant outduels SGA? The Wolves win this series. It’s that simple.
The Bottom Line
You don’t get many chances like this. This isn’t a happy-to-be-here team anymore. The Wolves are four wins from the Finals. They’ve gone from lovable overachievers to a cold, efficient machine that smothers opponents and breaks their spirits.
But to make history? To make real noise?
They’ve got to beat a team that’s younger, faster, and has been sitting at the top of the standings for months. This isn’t just the biggest series in Timberwolves history—it’s the biggest opportunity this franchise has ever had.
It’s going to be violent. It’s going to be personal. And by the time this is over, either Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Anthony Edwards will have leveled up into something truly mythic.
Tip-off is coming. Buckle up, Wolves fans.
This is the boss fight.
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