The Oklahoma City Thunder are so close to making a return to the NBA Finals, somewhere that the franchise last went to in 2012, when the Bolts were still led by the dynamic trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Those three have since each won a Most Valuable Player Award, but one thing they weren't able to do as teammates was bring an NBA championship to Oklahoma City.

This time around, a new Big Three in OKC is hoping to accomplish that mission. While there is still so much work left to do for the Thunder, the triumvirate of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams is giving Oklahoma City fans strong belief that their team will be the last one standing at the end of the 2024-25 NBA season.

On Monday, the Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals via a 128-126 score, thanks to the record-breaking effort of Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Williams. The three combined for 95 points in Game 4, the most ever in franchise history by a trio in a playoff game, as pointed out by a Reddit user.

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The prevous mark was held by the early 2010s core of Durant, Westbrook and Harden, who scored 94 points together during a 133-123 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in a second-round matchup versus the Memphis Grizzlies way back in 2011. In that contest, Westbrook went off for 40 points, Durant scattered 35 points, while Harden came off the bench and fired 19 points. However, that game also went to three overtimes, unlike Monday's game, which finished in regulation time.

Gilgeous-Alexander paced the Thunder in Game 4 with 40 points while going 12-for-14 from the free-throw line. Williams racked up 34 points with six 3-pointers, as Holmgren contributed 21 points with seven boards and three blocks for Oklahoma City, which only needs a win more to book a seat in the 2024 NBA Finals.

Interestingly enough, Mike Conley was on the opposing side in both of those Thunder games. Conley was the Grizzlies' starting point guard in the 2011 contest, scoring 16 points with five assists. Thirteen years later, he had six points and three assists for the Timberwolves.