OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Two years ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves met in the play-in tournament to determine which would get the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Now, they’ll face off for a trip to the NBA Finals.
Minnesota won that play-in game in 2023, but that was in Minneapolis. Oklahoma City has homecourt in this series and will host Game 1 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday.
The Thunder earned the top seed in the playoffs after posting a franchise-best 68-14 record in the regular season. Minnesota is seeded sixth, but the Timberwolves closed the regular season by winning 17 of 21 games. The teams are 2-2 against each other this season, with each claiming a win on the other’s home floor.
This is Oklahoma City’s first trip to the conference finals since 2016. The Timberwolves reached the Western Conference finals last season and lost to the Dallas Mavericks.
“Certainly last year’s experience helps a ton, and that’s what really this is all about — layering these experiences on top of each other so you can draw from them time and again and gain confidence,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.
The ascent of both teams has coincided with the rise of their superstars — Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points in a Game 7 victory over the Nuggets in the conference semifinals and has averaged 29.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.4 assists in the playoffs. Edwards is averaging 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists in the postseason.
Neither player has reached the NBA Finals. Gilgeous-Alexander said Oklahoma City's approach won't change just because the team has reached new ground.
“Just trying to be where our feet are in the moment, see what’s in front of us and try to attack it, come out on the right end of it,” he said. "I think that’s why we’ve gotten this far in the season, and we’re going to continue to do so.”
'Legend Killer'
Pro wrestling star Randy Orton has recognized Edwards as the “Legend killer” for sending some of the league's royalty packing early the past two years.
Orton, who has long had the gimmick in World Wrestling Entertainment for defeating and sometimes embarrassing older stars, acknowledged Edwards on a post that has garnered more than 11 million views on X. In a cartoon of the two, Orton is handing Edwards a gold chain with a large pendant shaped into the words “Legend killer.”
Edwards has earned the recognition. Last year, his Timberwolves knocked out Kevin Durant's Phoenix Suns in the first round and Denver's Nikola Jokic in the second. This year, it's been Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic in the first round and Golden State's Stephen Curry in the second.
Gilgeous-Alexander, a two-time finalist for MVP who put Jokic out this season, could be next.
Family matters
Gilgeous-Alexander will have to face Minnesota’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker, his cousin and teammate on the Canadian national team.
“If you know how close we are, he’s literally like my second brother," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "He’s been through every stage of life with me, picking up a basketball to going to prep school to making the NBA. Like we’ve gone through every situation together. For us, for both of us to be where we are is special. To compete against each other even more special. But I am trying to take his head off for sure.”
Key veteran
Thunder guard Alex Caruso has stepped up in the postseason.
The offseason pickup who won a title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 has been a menace as a reserve in the playoffs.
In the regular season, he averaged 7.1 points, 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals in just over 19 minutes per game. Those numbers have jumped to 9.3 points, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals per contest.
In Game 7 against Denver, his defense was a key reason the Thunder held Jokic to 20 points.
Randle's rhythm
The Timberwolves took a while to adjust to the arrival of Julius Randle, and vice versa, but after finding his groove down the stretch of the regular season, the veteran power forward has reliably provided an old-fashioned power game in the paint and some well-timed 3-pointers throughout the playoffs.
This is just his third postseason appearance in 11 years in the NBA -- and his first trip to the conference finals.
Randle said Finch has made the transition easier.
“He’s done an amazing job of allowing me to use all my tools," Randle said. "I don’t necessarily want to just be a scorer or a rebounder or whatever it is. He puts me in positions to be multiple different things, many different things, on any given night. He’s really opened up my game, and I just knew eventually that would be the case as the season went along and my relationship and chemistry developed with my teammates.”
Shai's freebies
After a rally to beat the Thunder on the road in February, Finch in complimenting his team’s performance made a point to complain about what the Timberwolves have felt is a discrepancy in fouls called against each team in matchups with their division rival.
“You can’t touch Shai,” Finch said then, lamenting the difficulty of guarding the leading contender for NBA MVP.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who was fourth in the league during the regular season with an average of 6.1 fouls drawn per game, has maintained that same rate in the playoffs.
“I do think there’s been more physicality allowed in the playoffs. I would hope that continues and that we’re able to be physical on some of these drives as long as we’re being smart,” Finch said. “He’s a very clever foul drawer. It takes a lot of concentration and toughness to be able to play through some of that stuff, but it’s just part of what you’ve got to do.”
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AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press
