The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder are the last two teams standing in the Western Conference. This Tuesday night, these two contenders for the 2025 NBA title will begin their best-of-seven series at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. It's an intriguing matchup that should garner plenty of interest, especially with both teams entering the Western Conference Finals round with healthy rosters.

While teams like the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets were hit by injuries to key players in the playoffs, the Timberwolves and the Thunder have survived two rounds seemingly unscathed.

The Thunder have Nikola Topic listed out on the injury report, but he's virtually a non-factor for Oklahoma City, as the 12th pick overall in the 2024 NBA draft suffered a torn ACL injury in May of 2024, wiping away his chances to play in the 2024-25 NBA campaign. Outside of Topic, the Thunder and the Timberwolves sport clean injury reports, so expect these teams to have all hands on deck in Game 1.

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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) dribbles against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley (10) and guard Kevin Porter Jr. (3) in the first quarter during game one of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center.
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Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) looks on against the Golden State Warriors in the first half during game five of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center.
Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards tosses ball at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, gets tech

Minnesota enters the conference finals off a longer rest than the Thunder, as the Timberwolves needed just five games to take care of business in the second round against Jimmy Butler and the Warriors. They have also played in only 10 contests through two rounds, having also eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round in only five games.

The Thunder, on the other hand, had a walk in the park in the first round, where they swept Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. But the second round was a much tougher experience for Oklahoma City, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company had to labor through seven games against the Nuggets.

This upcoming series between the Timberwolves and the Thunder could be another grind-it-out affair. Both teams have established go-to guys in Anthony Edwards for Minnesota and Gilgeous-Alexander for Oklahoma City, but they have an excellent supporting cast and play within a great defensive system. In fact, the Thunder are tops among all playoff teams with a defensive rating of 101.6, while the Timberwolves are holding opponents in the postseason to just 106.8 points per 100 possessions — second-best overall.