The Oklahoma City Thunder tried their best to balance the euphoria of the moment with the fact that they haven’t completed their mission.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the 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.
Oklahoma City will play the Indiana Pacers or New York Knicks in the finals.
Indiana lead the Eastern Conference finals series 3-1 with Game 5 to be played in New York City on Thursday.
Not just for me, but for the whole team.” Oklahoma City opened the game on an 11-3 run and extended the advantage throughout the first quarter.
The Oklahoma City Thunder made every effort to strike a balance between the excitement of the moment and the knowledge that their mission is still unfinished.
With 34 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94 on Wednesday to win the Western Conference finals series 4-1 and make their first NBA Finals appearance since 2012.
The league MVP’s level of excitement following the victory was measured. The finals will see Oklahoma City take on either the New York Knicks or the Indiana Pacers. With Game 5 scheduled for Thursday in New York City, Indiana leads the Eastern Conference finals series 3-1.
“There is a lot of growth ahead of us,” he stated. All of my attention is on that because we still have a lot of work to do to reach our ultimate goal, and this is not it. “.”.
The young Thunder players nevertheless enjoyed some of their typical enjoyment. In an interview conducted after the game, coach Mark Daigneault started praising his youthful team.
These men are rare. They perform all tasks properly. They are morally upright. “.”.
Then a number of players began covering Daigneault with towels, a common practice for local sideline reporter Nick Gallo during postgame interviews.
“They’re fools,” Daigneault stated without losing concentration.
The Thunder’s Jalen Williams contributed 19 points and eight rebounds, while Chet Holmgren finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.
The Thunder benching their starters with 5:14 left in the fourth quarter and a 108-74 lead infuriated a fan base that had endured losing Kevin Durant in free agency in 2016 and a rebuild that had the team near the bottom of the league standings just four years prior.
The Timberwolves, who shot just 41.2% from the field and committed 21 turnovers, had 24 points from Julius Randle and 19 from Anthony Edwards.
Mike Conley, the point guard for Minnesota, suffered a hard defeat. These opportunities are uncommon, according to the 37-year-old point guard.
He remarked, “It will take some time to sort of analyze what we just did and what we couldn’t do.”. At the same time, though, I’m proud of my team and these guys, man. They engaged in a fierce battle. For the benefit of the entire team, not just myself. “”.
Oklahoma City led 11–3 at the start of the game and maintained that lead for the duration of the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Cason Wallace made a three-pointer to give the Thunder a 26-9 lead. Once that happened, the game was never close.
According to Minnesota coach Chris Finch, “we just struggled to find a rhythm.”. Everyone was attempting to complete it independently. We stopped being connected. But the Thunder deserve all the praise. They definitely merit this. Their performance was exceptional. And in many respects, we failed. “”.
