The Minnesota Timberwolves punched their ticket to the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday by finishing off the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the second round of the playoffs.
This will be their second straight trip to the West Finals, and they will face the winner of the Oklahoma City Thunder-Denver Nuggets series there.
The Thunder currently lead that series three games to two, and Game 6 will take place in Colorado on Thursday. Following Minnesota's Game 5 win, Charles Barkley made a bold statement on "Inside the NBA" about the Thunder's chances of winning the world championship this season.
“Nobody’s going to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder this year,” Barkley said. “They’re going to go to the championship and they’re going to win it. They gonna beat Denver. They gonna beat Minnesota and they’re going to beat whoever comes out of the East. We keep looking for holes. They’re started to believe… I think Oklahoma City has proven they’re the best team in the NBA… Oklahoma City don’t have no holes.”
Right now, the Thunder seem to be a good pick to win it all. They were tops in defensive rating and third in offensive rating during the regular season, and they have the type of depth and energy that no team remaining in the playoffs can match.
However, they're a young and relatively inexperienced team, and with the amount of parity across the league, perhaps no one can safely predict this year's NBA champion at this point.
Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) checks on forward Chet Holmgren (7) during a game against the Nuggets.
Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) checks on forward Chet Holmgren (7) during a game against the Nuggets.
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Oklahoma City had the type of win in Game 5 that helps a young team get closer to achieving adulthood. It fell behind by as many as 12 points and was down by eight at the start of the fourth quarter, but it found a way to earn a 112-105 victory.
Nikola Jokic supplied Denver with 44 points on hot shooting, but most of his key teammates struggled. The Thunder, meanwhile, had six players in double figures, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP candidate who had 31 points and seven assists.