Follow The Oklahoman’s coverage of Thunder vs. Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
The Thunder and Timberwolves are divisional rivals, but not until now have they met in a playoff series. Not since 2008 that is, when the Thunder franchise relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City.
OKC and Minnesota did meet in the 2023 play-in tournament, but this Western Conference finals matchup should have a little more bite to it.
Game 1 is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
Here’s a roundtable discussion to get you ready for the series:
Which second star do you trust more: Jalen Williams or Julius Randle?
Jenni Carlson: Give me Williams. Yes, the Game 7 performance against the Nuggets is part of it — recency basis isn’t always a bad thing — but really, until he had that clunker in Game 6, he had been solid to good for the much of the playoffs. Averaging almost 20 points a game in the playoffs is not nothing. Plus, he is a much better defender than Randle, so even if Williams has an off night offensively, he’ll still give you something defensively.
Joel Lorenzi: For what it’s worth, neither has an extensive postseason resume of reliable play. Randle has been better this go round. There’s offensive volatility in both of them at this point. I’ll lean Williams for two reasons. Regardless of his wrist or his shooting or any offensive consistency, he’ll be one of the best defenders in this series. That’s one of the safer bets to make this round. But also, OKC seemingly has far more coverages and adjustments ready for Randle than Minnesota might have for Williams. Williams on Randle. Caruso on Randle. Hartenstein on Randle. Dort on Randle in the case OKC wants to give Edwards a different look. All vastly different but viable options. To answer the question, I trust the Thunder defense more.
Justin Martinez: I’m going with Jalen Williams. Julius Randle has been the better player this postseason by a pretty wide margin, but he’ll be guarded by a wave of high-level defenders. Williams should have an easier time since Minnesota’s top defender, Jaden McDaniels, will mostly be focused on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Joe Mussatto: Jalen Williams rose to the occasion in Game 7. That bumped him up several levels on the trust meter. But I’ll go with Randle. He’s been that good for the Wolves in these playoffs. I’m not the biggest Randle guy (who is?) but check out these playoff numbers: 23.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 51% shooting, 35% 3-point shooting. The raw playoff numbers between Randle and J-Dub are almost identical. Randle has been more efficient, though. Counter point: Randle has never been a playoff riser until now.
Which bench player, for either team, could be an X-factor in the series?
Jenni Carlson: Isaiah Joe is due. The Thunder sharpshooter was neither sharp nor much of a shooter in the Nuggets series. He attempted only 15 3-pointers in the entire series and made just five. The Thunder shot the ball so poorly from behind the arc in that series that everyone got put on blast. But Joe just didn’t seem to have a place in that series. If he gets going, even a little bit, that would be a huge help for OKC.
Joel Lorenzi: The greatest compliment I can give Alex Caruso is that he’s well past being an X-factor. He’s been OKC’s second most valuable player during this run. His bald fury is the Thunder’s baseline. That being said, it’s probably Aaron Wiggins. A lot to hinge a series on, I know. I think even if Wiggins doesn’t have a great series, OKC will probably still survive. But if Minnesota is going to test who can zone up more, someone off the ball is going to need to make quick decisions against a tilted defense. And if Minnesota is going to force the ball out of either SGA or JDub’s hands, Wiggins is next in line in terms of creation. With two uniquely stifling defenses, this could get ugly. The Thunder could use Wiggins to dress up some of its non-SGA offense in spurts.
Justin Martinez: The fist guys who come to mind are Naz Reid, a former Sixth Man of the Year winner, and Alex Caruso, who has been incredible during these playoffs. But they’re so reliable that I don’t see them as X-factors at this point. My pick is Cason Wallace, one of the many strong defenders OKC will throw at Anthony Edwards. He’s also electric in transition, where the Thunder builds a large portion of its momentum.
Joe Mussatto: I’ll take the low-hanging fruit. Give me Alex Caruso. Justin is right in that you know what you’re getting in Caruso, but what about the when of Caruso? Mark Daigneault started Caruso in place of Hartenstein to open the second half of Game 7, going away from the double-big lineup. Daigneault could deploy Caruso in all sorts of situations against the Wolves. Caruso is versatile enough to defend Anthony Edwards on one possession and Julius Randle on the next. If Caruso keeps making threes, that’s icing on the cake.
‘First Take’ question: Which star needs this series more, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Anthony Edwards?
Jenni Carlson: I’ll go SGA. His team won 68 games and finished first in the West. He is the presumptive MVP. (Who knows, by the time you see this, they might’ve actually gotten around to naming the winner of the silly award!) When you have those things on your resume, getting to the NBA Finals is an expectation. Anthony Edwards doesn’t have such expectations. He has some, of course, but they’re no where near as lofty as SGA’s.
Joel Lorenzi: Edwards has bought himself time. He’s 23, is here for a second straight season despite a core-changing offseason trade, and is the NBA’s American darling. For the sake of his reputation, and the Thunder’s, it probably has to be SGA. It’s not lost on people that SGA is 27 this summer, fully in his prime and not launching toward it like Edwards. It certainly isn’t lost on folks that the Thunder won 68 games. That they’re clear favorites after Boston’s dismissal from these playoffs. Since it became clear he could win MVP, his detractors have been trying to find reasons to denounce his case. Even when he led the league in scoring and was the foundation of a system that secured a franchise record in wins. It’s a regular-season award, but had OKC lost to Denver last round? Only Dirk Nowitzki would’ve known such pushback as an MVP winner in recent memory.
Joe Mussatto: SGA. He’s the MVP. He’s the leader of the 68-win team. Granted, neither needs this series from a legacy standpoint. It’s about a decade too early for that kind of talk. SGA is 26. Edwards is only 23 — younger than Jalen Williams. These are two of the league’s finest. Sit back and enjoy it.
Justin Martinez: This isn’t a legacy-defining series for either Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, or Anthony Edwards, 23. But I’ll go with Gilgeous-Alexander purely because OKC went 68-14 this season. Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are expected to win, while Edwards and the Timberwolves are the sixth-seeded underdogs with nothing to lose.
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