Who’s It Gonna Be? Wolves Fans Await a Game 7 Answer While Plotting Their Path to Glory
Let’s set the scene: It’s Sunday. Nearly four full days have passed since the Timberwolves officially sent the Golden State Warriors to Cancun. That Game 5 gentleman’s sweep wasn’t just a win—it was a statement. A declaration. A moment where everyone in the Western Conference had to look up and realize: this isn’t last year’s Wolves team anymore.
This team isn’t sneaking up on anyone.
This team is for real.
And now, we wait.
This afternoon, the Nuggets and Thunder will collide in Game 7, the kind of high-stakes, leg-burning, soul-draining battle that every Wolves fan should be watching with a massive bowl of popcorn and one single rooting interest: maximum carnage.
Because let’s be honest, we all became Nuggets fans for a hot second the moment Denver blew Game 5 and suddenly risked sending the Thunder into the WCF on five days’ rest. That couldn’t happen. That shouldn’t happen. We wanted this thing to go the distance. Let them battle it out. Let Jokic rack up another 44 minutes of wear and tear. Let SGA keep trying to bait fouls in playoff officiating purgatory. Let both teams crawl into Game 1 against a rested, angry Timberwolves squad with ice packs on every limb and playoff mileage in their knees.
Who Do We Want to Play?
The question that’s been splitting Timberwolves Twitter like a barroom argument over The Last Jedi: would you rather face the Nuggets again... or test your luck against the best team from the regular season?
Let’s start with Denver.
This is becoming a full-on playoff rivalry. If the Nuggets prevail today, it would mark the third straight year the teams collided in the post-season. Wolves are 6–0 against the Nuggets dating back to Game 6 in last year’s Western Conference Semis. And it’s not like those were fluky wins. Minnesota has built a roster that was basically forged in a lab to deal with Nikola Jokic. Tim Connelly, the architect of the Nuggets, knew the assignment: find enough long, disciplined, athletic bodies to frustrate Jokic without doubling him every play and letting shooters go wild.
Enter: Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, and Naz Reid—the three-headed dragon of chaos.
Even in that double-overtime April game where Jokic casually dropped 61 (because of course he did), the Wolves still walked away with the W. That’s how insane this matchup is: the best player in the world can play the best game of his career… and it still might not be enough.
Oh, and Aaron Gordon, if he can play, will be limping around with a hamstring issue. That matters. Because when AG is healthy, he’s the Nuggets’ X-factor. He hits corner threes, makes cuts, defends wings, and has been the defacto crunch-time hero of the 2025 NBA playoffs. But if he’s hobbling? Denver’s margin for error shrinks considerably.
Jamal Murray? The Wolves know how to smother him. Jaden McDaniels has the key to his mental safe. Even when McDaniels sists, Minnesota can run a rotating cast of chaos merchants at him until he’s second-guessing every pull-up jumper.
And then there’s the mental hurdle: six straight losses to the Wolves, and a team that—let’s face it—might be just plain tired. Denver needed seven to get past the Clippers. Now they’re playing a seventh straight bloodbath against OKC. You’re telling me they have another gear left for a rested, balanced, scary Wolves team?
I’m not sure they do.
But What About OKC?
On the flip side, you have the NBA’s golden child. The right way to rebuild team. Sam Presti’s master plan in full bloom.
The Oklahoma City Thunder.
On paper, this team is a problem. They won the West by a landslide. They’re deep, they’re versatile, they share the ball like it’s a youth camp drill. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might win MVP. Jalen Williams is a bucket-getter. Chet Holmgren is the love child of Kevin McHale and a human pipe cleaner.
And yet... the shine has worn off a bit these past two weeks.
This Nuggets series has shown that OKC, for all their glorious stats and beautiful ball movement, might not be ready just yet for the conference finals crucible. The playoff intensity has exposed some very real flaws.
Shai’s foul-baiting? Less effective in May. The playoffs don’t give you those ticky-tack whistles. And when he’s not living at the line, suddenly the offense doesn’t hum quite the same. And when he does get blitzed or doubled? Who’s the second guy you’re terrified of?
Jalen Williams? Great player. But he’s not Jamal Murray in Game 6 of a playoff series.
Lu Dort? Good for one “3-for-4 from deep” night per series, but not someone you bet the house on.
The Thunder are great. But they’re young great. They haven’t had their heartbreak series yet. They haven’t been bloodied in that “now we know what it takes” way. If the Wolves bring their full intensity—if Ant is Ant, and the defense plays to its level—Minnesota can absolutely take them.
But… they’ll have to work. OKC is deep. They play hard. They’ll never beat themselves. And they’ll push the Wolves in ways that Denver won’t, especially on the perimeter.
The Verdict?
So who do you want?
If you believe in matchups, if you trust the tape, and if you’re a conspiracy theorist who thinks Tim Connelly’s master plan is secretly a “How to Break the Nuggets Dynasty” instruction manual, then you root for Denver.
If you fear the randomness of playoff shooting and prefer the idea of playing a younger, less experienced team (with a slightly smaller best-player ceiling), maybe OKC is the better path.
For me? I’ll take Denver. Jokic is terrifying, but the Wolves have the antidote. They’ve got the bodies, the history, the confidence. And frankly, it would be poetic—Minnesota’s biggest rival, the former champs, the best player on the planet, standing between them and their first conference title.
But whoever it is… Wolves fans? Buckle up.
We’re four wins away from the NBA Finals. The last stop before immortality.