OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94 on Wednesday night to win the Western Conference finals series 4-1 and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.
Gilgeous-Alexander was a unanimous selection as the MVP of the Western Conference finals one week after being awarded his first league MVP award. He could become the first player to win league MVP and an NBA title in the same season since Stephen Curry in 2014-15.
Chet Holmgren had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks and Jalen Williams added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who rolled to their fourth win by 30 or more points this postseason, the most in a single postseason in NBA history, according to ESPN Research.
“They’re unbelievably competitive,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of his team. “They put the work in behind it consistently, through the ups and downs. And most of all, they’re team first. … They embody everything it means to be a team. And so they deserve this. They deserve the opportunity that we have now.”
A fan base that had suffered through the loss of Kevin Durant through free agency in 2016 and a rebuild that took the team near the bottom of the league’s standings just four years ago let loose in the fourth quarter when the Thunder sat their starters with 5:14 remaining and a 108-74 lead.
Oklahoma City will play the Indiana Pacers or New York Knicks in the finals. Indiana leads the Eastern Conference finals series 3-1 with Game 5 to be played in New York City on Thursday. Oklahoma City will have home-court advantage when the Finals begin June 5 because of its league-best 68-14 regular-season record.
The Thunder have never won a title since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008-09, though the franchise did win a title as the Seattle Supersonics in 1979.
Julius Randle scored 24 points and Anthony Edwards added 19 for the Timberwolves, who shot just 41.2% from the field and committed 21 turnovers.
Oklahoma City opened the game on an 11-3 run and extended the advantage throughout the first quarter. Cason Wallace drained a 3-pointer as the first quarter expired to put the Thunder up 26-9 at the end of the period.
Oklahoma City led 65-32 at halftime and 88-62 heading into the fourth quarter.
“It’s great to feel like you didn’t leave anything on the table, which I feel like we didn’t tonight,” Holmgren said. “You can always be better. We’re going to look and see how we can be better. But overall, I feel like we played a really good game. Everyone down the roster got in, played well, and it’s a lot easier on the nerves than those close games.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
