**Kevin Durant’s Not Coming to Minnesota — But We’ve Got Game 7 of the** [**NBA Finals**](https://www.sbnation.com/nba-finals)**, So Let’s Ride**
Well, that’s that.
The Kevin Durant-to-Minnesota dream is officially dead. Buried. Tossed into the Mississippi next to 3,000 “KD in a Wolves jersey” Photoshop jobs.
KD is heading to Houston. Yes, that Houston. The team that wasn’t even sure what it was two seasons ago and now suddenly has Kevin Durant, a wild assortment of young talent, and a front office that’s clearly tired of sitting at the kids’ table.
The Rockets pulled it off with a pretty _meh_ trade package, but hey, it got the job done. And more importantly for Wolves fans: it _didn’t_ cost us our depth, our identity, or the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from having a young core that actually likes playing basketball together.
So the KD saga is over.
Let’s grieve.
Let’s exhale.
And then let’s do what NBA fans do best when a blockbuster trade doesn’t involve our team:
**Talk about Game 7.**
### Game 7: One Last Breath of the 2024–25 Season
We made it.
82 games. Four rounds. 29 teams sent packing.
One last night. One last war. One last chance for Tyrese Haliburton to become a legend — or for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to complete his transformation into the NBA’s smoothest apex predator.
Thunder vs. Pacers.
Game 7.
L.A.R.R.Y. O.B. on the line.
Let’s be honest — this wasn’t the Finals you expected when the season started. We were all doodling “[Celtics](https://www.celticsblog.com)” into our playoff prediction brackets like it was destiny. Maybe you got cute and scribbled in the Bucks. Or the Suns before they broke into a hundred expensive pieces. Or (you probably should have know better...) the Timberwolves.
Nobody had this.
Nobody.
Maybe you had OKC, the youngest team in the league, making a title run _this soon_. You certainly didn’t have the Pacers, who looked like they were built in a lab for Eastern Conference first-round exits, somehow turning into the scrappiest, most dangerous team in the playoffs.
And you definitely didn’t have _both_ in a Game 7.
### The Rarity of Game 7 Finals
Let’s pour one out for Game 7s in the NBA Finals. They’re the holy grail. We haven’t seen one since 2016, and that was the _Game 7_ — LeBron’s block, Kyrie’s dagger, Draymond’s tears.
Ironically, that loss triggered the Warriors to hit the “No More Mr. Nice Guy” button and go out and sign… Kevin Durant. See how this all comes full circle?
That game was almost a decade ago, which is insane. Since then, the Finals have either been five-game cakewalks or six-game respectable conclusions. This year? We get the real thing. Do-or-die. Win-or-go-home. Everything-you’ve-got-for-48-minutes basketball.
Tonight, someone’s going to be crying on the floor. Someone’s going to be hoisting the trophy. And one city is going to wake up tomorrow unable to feel its face from partying too hard.
### Who Has the Edge?
Look, it’s Oklahoma City.
They’ve been the best team all year. They’re at home. They’ve lost about as often at Paycom Arena as the Timberwolves have gotten calls from national media (read: not often). When OKC hits that third-quarter gear — the one where SGA is hitting 19-foot step-backs and Lou Dort suddenly becomes 2013 Kawhi Leonard — it’s lights out.
They’re deep, they’re connected, and they defend like their lives depend on it.
BUT…
Indiana has been the cockroach of these playoffs. You can’t kill them. They just _won’t_ die. Haliburton has mastered the art of the clutch three and the no-look assist at _just_ the right moment. Siakam has looked like it’s 2019 again. And Rick Carlisle? He’s coaching like he found a genie in a bottle.
They’ve already at OKC this series. If they can weather the storm early and keep the crowd out of it, anything can happen.
### The Wolves Fan’s Guide to Game 7
So what do we do, Wolves fans?
The KD saga is over. Our team is chilling. We’re somewhere between “relieved” and “mildly jealous.” So who do we root for?
**Do we root for Indiana?**
Absolutely. They’re the underdogs. They’re gritty. They don’t flop like fish on dry land (looking at you, Shai). They don’t get away with every handsie defensive tactic like it’s 1997 (hi, Caruso). And they don’t make us relive the trauma of watching Ant run into the Dort Wall™ five games in a row.
**Do we root against OKC?**
If you have even an ounce of Wolves loyalty left, _duh_. The Thunder knocked us out. They flexed. They did their cheesy team post-game interviews. And they sent us into a KD-induced spiral that’s only just now ending. A Thunder loss tonight doesn’t undo any of that — but it _does_ make us feel slightly better heading into the offseason.
So yeah. Go Pacers.
### Final Prediction
OKC starts hot. Crowd is insane. SGA is doing SGA things.
But Indiana? They hang around. They keep it close. They force turnovers. They make just enough weird, off-balance shots to keep the Thunder from pulling away.
Then… fourth quarter… Haliburton Time.
My prediction?
**Pacers 104, Thunder 101.**
A Siakam dagger. A Carlisle smirk.
And the weirdest, most glorious championship parade Indianapolis has ever seen.
Enjoy the ride, friends. This is the final NBA game of the season. Let’s soak it in, hang out in the comments, and pray the refs keep their whistles in check.
And as always — may the best non-flopping, non-handsy, non-ref-baiting team win.