The Oklahoma City Thunder can clinch a spot in the NBA Finals with a win at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night - and send Minnesota home after a Western Conference Finals Game 5 for the second straight season.
The Thunder lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 after a 128-126 victory on Monday night in Minneapolis. Now, the Thunder return home for Game 5 seeking their first NBA Finals trip since 2012. The Thunder mostly overwhelmed the Timberwolves at home in Games 1 and 2.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the newly crowned league MVP, is averaging 30.8 points and 8.3 assists per game in the series. He is coming off a 40-point, 10-assist, nine-rebound performance in Game 4. Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City’s other All-Star, had 34 points in Game 4 and is averaging 23 points in the series.
Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren has caused problems for his hometown Timberwolves. The 7-foot-1 forward is averaging 17 points and 1.3 blocks in the series and has shot 55% from the field over the four games.
Those three outshined Minnesota's stars by a significant margin in the series' crucial Game 4 Monday. The Wolves had their chances to win Game 4 thanks to a strong performance from the bench. But Finch says the starters have to step up.
"When we have production up and down the roster, like most teams, you know, we're gonna be a lot better," says Finch. "They did a good job of getting their three guys to have a good big game for them. We need to get a little bit more out of our first unit."
While Anthony Edwards is averaging 24 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the series, he was largely kept out of the lane and corralled in Game 4 where he scored just 16 points. He was held to only two shot attempts in the first half, a shockingly low number for one of the top scoring guards in the NBA.
"They do a good job of jamming him up, up the floor," says Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch. "So, you know, it's on him to be able to kind of get to the bottom of the floor a little bit quicker, like we talked about, so we can free him up."
But his supporting cast has been spotty, especially Julius Randle, the team’s No. 2 scorer during the regular season. Randle scored only five points on 1-for-7 shooting in Game 4. He is capable — he scored 28 points in the series opener and 24 in Game 3. And the Wolves will need him desperately in order to get a win to force a Game 6 in Minneapolis on Friday night.
It's superstars that carry NBA teams and for the Wolves, that has to be Edwards. Finch says they can do more to get him going.
"There's some things that maybe he can have in transition that we didn't necessarily find for him last night," Finch explained Tuesday. "Moving him off ball, some more off ball stuff, things that we've done earlier in the series last night we didn't really get to."
Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14, first in the Western Conference)
Oklahoma City; Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Thunder -8.5; over/under is 220.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Thunder lead series 3-1
BOTTOM LINE: The Oklahoma City Thunder look to clinch the Western Conference finals over the Minnesota Timberwolves in game five. The Thunder defeated the Timberwolves 128-126 in the last meeting on Tuesday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 40 points, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the Timberwolves with 23.
The Thunder are 12-4 against opponents in the Northwest Division. Oklahoma City is sixth in the Western Conference in rebounding with 44.8 rebounds. Jalen Williams leads the Thunder with 5.3 boards.
The Timberwolves have gone 33-19 against Western Conference opponents. Minnesota is 11-11 in one-possession games.
The Thunder average 14.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.8 more made shots on average than the 12.7 per game the Timberwolves give up. The Timberwolves average 15.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.5 more made shots on average than the 13.5 per game the Thunder allow.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and 1.7 steals for the Thunder. Williams is averaging 19.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.7 steals over the last 10 games.
Anthony Edwards is averaging 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the Timberwolves. Julius Randle is averaging 21.2 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 7-3, averaging 115.0 points, 43.5 rebounds, 24.9 assists, 10.3 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.3 points per game.
Timberwolves: 6-4, averaging 110.8 points, 42.9 rebounds, 26.1 assists, 7.0 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.6 points.
INJURIES: Thunder: Nikola Topic: out for season (acl).
Timberwolves: None listed.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.