Oklahoma City obliterated any remaining hopes that Minnesota had of getting back into the series with a 65-32 first half - starting with a 26-9 shellacking in the first quarter followed by a 39-23 stampede in the second. The triumphant Thunder advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.
It was the AT&T Bros - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (34 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds), Jalen Williams (19 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists), and Chet Holmgren (22 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks) and deep rotation that thoroughly outplayed their counterparts in game 5.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards (19 points and 6 rebounds) and Julius Randle (24 points and 5 rebounds), and aside from Naz Reid’s solid shooting (11 points and 5 rebounds), received putrid support from Jaden McDaniels (2-for-13) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (0-for-8) and a goose-egg from Mike Conley, Jr.
OKC ambushed the Wolves from the start, and got a double-digit lead within eight fast minutes. Gilgeous-Alexander persistently probed the paint with the dual threat of his shotmaking and kickouts to help his team get to 20 points before Minnesota got to ten. Even when Minnesota got themselves open shots, few of them had any realistic chance of going in. After Cason Wallace forced a turnover, Gilgeous-Alexander fed him in the deep corner, and he connected from three. The Thunder exited the stanza up by 17.
The Thunder continued to swarm any and all Wolves players and lunged, snagged, and wrested away numerous balls. After Minnesota went down 22, a graphic revealed shamefully that they had five field goals to seven turnovers - a nightmarish ratio. Halfway to halftime, Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jalen Williams still were outscoring the entire Wolves roster by 13. The Wolves eventually passed the 30-point mark, but Oklahoma City still doubled them up heading into the break.
### Observations
* I wish there was a website that looked at how compliant (percentage) the playoff teams’ crowds are with donning the giveaway shirts.
* I can’t wait for Stephon Castle to body check Gilgeous-Alexander all the way up the court in the conference semi-finals next year. I also can’t wait for Dylan Harper to get some playoff minutes, as well. :)
* Favorite all-time Wolves: Nikola Pekovic, Doug West, Malik Sealy (RIP), Wally Szczerbiak (before Bruce Bowen kicked him in the face).
* A person posted his “[NBA Team Name Rankings](https://x.com/PastorTrey05/status/1927852651837788564)” on Twitter and put the Spurs 27th.
* On one of Gilgeous-Alexander’s silky first half lay-ups, he looked like a 6’6” Tony Parker floating to the front of the rim.
* Favorite all-time Thunder (not counting the Sonics): Nick Collison, Steven Adams - that’s it
* This series reminded me of the [Spurs/Jazz 2007 WCF](https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2007-nba-western-conference-finals-jazz-vs-spurs.html). Gentleman’s sweep. Game 3 blowout of the winning team. Relatively close and hard-fought game 4. Adios in Game 5.
* I’m probably the only dork that likes this stuff, but the OKC live-action music for ‘defense’ is fun.
* At least Doris Burke didn’t make any France / Germany remarks tonight.
* **Sequence of the Game #1**: OKC.
* **Sequence of the Game #2**: Alex Caruso doggedly snagged a steal, and fed a trailing Gilgeous-Alexander for a transition slam during that initial first period push. Reid stole the ball soon after, and was frightened off of his dribble from a pursuing Caruso.
### Game Rundown
From the tip, Minnesota picked up two offensive rebounds, which allowed Randle to get an open three. Holmgren’s corner three finally allowed the fans to sit down after 2 minutes and 25 seconds, and his transition dunk got them back up in jubilation. After that initial Randle make, the Wolves were shutout for 4.5 minutes. McDaniels managed to put up six bricks alone during that drought. Edwards’ stepback jumper went three feet left of its target. The action was so one-sided, my wife spent a full minute of game action commenting on Coach Finch’s ‘bowlcut.’ By the time the damage was done, the Wolves found themselves down 9-26 with the only contributors being Randle and Edwards.
After Caruso stole an errant pass early in the second quarter, Mike Breen quipped “He’s a defensive demon!” Rookie Terrence Shannon again made an immediate impact for Minnesota with a corner three. Breen also referred to Wallace as a “another defensive demon” to which Richard Jefferson asked “How many demons are out there?” Breen, without missing a beat, “I said like eight!” Randle and Reid coughed the ball up on consecutive possessions, and the beatdown commenced in earnest. Holmgren’s catch-and-shoot three and Jalen Williams’ three from nearly the same spot made it 44-18. In a sign of how bad this was for Minnesota, Gilgeous-Alexander willed home a smooth lefty lay-up to close the half, and Randle could not get up a buzzer-beating attempt. OKC 65 Minnesota 32.
It’s been a while since there’s been such an extended ‘tiempo basura.’