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One win is all the Oklahoma City Thunder need to reach the NBA Finals. This team, led by 2024-25 NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the has dominated every challenge they have faced all season. Aside from winning 68 games, the Thunder have continued to mature and grow together as the youngest team in the league.
That growth was apparent on Monday night in Minneapolis.
The Minnesota Timberwolves gave it their all in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, defeating Oklahoma City by 143-101 on Saturday and putting themselves in a position to possibly even the series on their home floor.
This was a critical moment for Gilgeous-Alexander and his team.
Breaking the cycle of home teams winning this series and taking a 3-1 series lead not only puts them on the doorstep of the NBA Finals, but claiming Game 4 would allow the Thunder to seize any momentum that the Timberwolves were creating.
Although things got too close for comfort at the end of the game, with unexpected heroes like Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jaden McDaniels knocking down huge shots for Minnesota, this game was never out of the Thunder's hands. As a result, the Thunder won Game 4 on the road 128-126 and are now in a position where they can enter celebration mode and rejoice in front of their home faithful in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
After losing by 42 points the game before, the Thunder fought off multiple comeback attempts by the Timberwolves in Game 4 to give them the best opportunity possible to make the NBA Finals. To put this loss behind them and fight through adversity on the road speaks volumes about the type of team Oklahoma City truly is.
“I learned nothing. They're easy to bet on. This team is easy to bet on,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said of his team on Monday night. “We had a very normal couple of days leading into it. Very normal shootaround today, and there's just kind of an internal sense that we were going to come out and it be a much different game just tonally.
“(I) didn't learn anything about the resilience or the perseverance, but we are still growing. These are all new experiences for us.”
Although being up 3-1 and in the Western Conference Finals is a new experience for this version of the Thunder, the organization has found itself in this position before.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma City to the Western Conference Finals in 2016 and had the team on the verge of making it to the NBA Finals. However, a player by the name of Stephen Curry forged an incredible comeback with the Golden State Warriors, who won an NBA record 73 games during the regular season.
While Daigneault and the Thunder may not want to admit it, this is certainly something that is in the back of their minds despite that series having nothing to do with anyone apart from this team.
A 3-1 lead is strong but still breakable.
The Thunder are focused on winning one game at a time, which is why Game 5 on Wednesday is the most important game of their season.
“We have to approach the next 48 hours the same way we approached the last 48 hours and just get back to our baseline. That's our deal. The gap between the games for us, we try to make as consistent as possible. The guys do a great job of that. We just need to focus on winning possessions in Game 5.
“We have to learn those lessons and keep getting better. That's how you navigate a series.”
The ghosts of Thunder's past are still relevant
When Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook won Game 4 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals by 24 points, it seemed like the 73-win Warriors and Stephen Curry were as good as dead. In back-to-back games, Oklahoma City had dismantled Golden State, outscoring them by 52 points in two games.
It had seemed like all the pressure of this series was on Curry and the Warriors since they were the heavy favorites, but on their home floor in Game 5, the series took a turn. Despite a 40-point effort from Durant, the Dubs went on to extend this series and force a Game 6 in Oklahoma City.
Of course, everyone remembers what happened next, as Klay Thompson exploded for 41 points in Game 6 to even the series, ultimately resulting in the Warriors pulling off an improbable comeback in Game 7 on their home floor.
That was a 3-1 lead the Thunder held in the Western Conference Finals that disappeared into thin air. While this organization may once again be in the driver's seat against Minnesota, they are not about to let the ghosts of its past define the present.
Gilgeous-Alexander was 17 years old and in high school when the Thunder blew their 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals. Chet Holmgren had just turned 14, and Jalen Williams was 15. As for Mark Daigneault, he was in his second year with the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League, a team that went just 19-31.
Regardless of the outcome of that 2016 series, it will forever be a part of Thunder lore. The significance of that moment and the heartbreaking feeling this fan base felt is once again relevant nine years later.
A total of 13 teams have rallied from down 3-1 in a playoff series to win in NBA Playoff history. Only one team has done so in the Western Conference Finals, and that was the Warriors in 2016 over the Thunder.
The Timberwolves have proven to be a formidable opponent.
Anthony Edwards is no joke, and Minnesota was right with Oklahoma City in the final seconds of Game 4. This series could have taken a twist if the Timberwolves had made just a few more shots in the fourth quarter, and Edwards' team is going to enter Game 5 in Oklahoma City swinging for the fences.
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All of the pressure in this series is on the Thunder, the best team in the NBA this year, to prove their championship pedigree. While the script may be flipped from 2016 in terms of the Thunder having the home-court advantage for Game 5 up 3-1 instead of going on the road, this is still a pivotal moment for a young team to continue growing.
Now just one win away from winning the Western Conference and heading to the 2025 NBA Finals, Oklahoma City is ready for the moment they've been preparing for since the first game of the year.
Jalen Williams, Thunder understand the opportunity ahead
As good as the Thunder are and have been all year, their record and skill don't stand out as the team's most unique attributes. Instead, it's their mindset and the fact that these players, who have only been in the league for a few seasons together, play like a group of 10-year NBA veterans contending for another championship.
This group has never been to the NBA Finals, yet the Thunder have looked calm and collected at all times in the Western Conference Finals against the Timberwolves.
Aside from Daigneault and his teachings having a lot to do with this mindset, it's also simply the spirit and will of the team to believe that they are the best team in the league competing for a championship. The goal from the very first game was to win a championship, and Williams made it clear that this group is still learning each step of the way.
“This journey is not easy, and it's not meant to be easy,” Williams said after Game 4 on Monday. “These experiences make us better, but just down the stretch, you got to know the score, obviously, but you can't let that affect the game. They're going to score; they're a really good team. They're going to hit tough shots, and we're going to hit tough shots.
“That's how the game goes, but a lot of it is just like who can stick with it the most.”
Every time the Timberwolves went on a little bit of a run and cut the Thunder's lead in half during Game 4, Williams was the one who had the answers outside of Gilgeous-Alexander. The first-time All-Star scored 34 points on 13-of-24 shooting on Monday night, his best performance in this year's playoffs.
Many have been criticizing Williams' recent performances and questioning his status as the No. 2 option on the Thunder next to Gilgeous-Alexander, but he didn't let this noise get to him. Instead, the 24-year-old continued to work on ways to score at a high level. As a result, he is a big reason why the Thunder are just one win away from advancing to the 2025 NBA Finals.
At the same time, Williams isn't letting this performance get to his head. It is not easy to win four games in a seven-game series, no matter who the opponent is. The 2016 Thunder thought their series was over when they went up 3-1 against the Warriors in 2016, and look what happened there.
Williams and the Thunder are certainly excited to play Game 5 with the opportunity to get to the Finals on their home floor, but the mindset remains the same: everyone do their job and win the game.
“I try not to get too ahead of myself with it, to be honest. There's still a lot of series left,” Williams stated. “We still have to go do a job this next game against a team that's very good. So, that's honestly how I think about it. I think after the season, whenever that is, I'll be able to reflect on it, and that's more the time to enjoy it. But right now, it's just win the games.”
At any point in this series, Edwards can crack the code to Oklahoma City's offense and ignite the Timberwolves' offense. If he alone had knocked down more shots, the Thunder would've been in trouble on Monday.
That is the nature of a playoff series, as anyone can end up hitting shots or struggling on any given night. Right now, it's the Thunder that own the momentum, and they will continue to keep doing what has worked in hopes of ending this series before Edwards and the Timberwolves can regain their confidence.
This has been Oklahoma City's mantra all season long, as Holmgren explained in an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints in March.
“Our goals are dreams, and to reach these dreams, we have to take it one day, one game, at a time.
“Whatever it takes.”
