And just like that, it’s over.
The Wolves’ 2024-25 campaign—a season that gave us hope, pain, elation, and about a dozen different spiritual crises—came to a screeching halt in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. A blowout. Not a buzzer-beater. Not a heartbreak classic. A straight-up pantsing from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Final score: sadness.
And yet, weirdly, this still goes down as the third-best season in franchise history. For a franchise like Minnesota, that stat says as much about the past as it does the present.
Let’s rewind a bit. The year started with the Karl-Anthony Towns trade—a nuclear shockwave through the fan base. We had no idea if this was the start of something brilliant or something catastrophic. Spoiler alert: it was both, depending on which month you watched.
October and November? Yikes. This team couldn’t string together two decent quarters, let alone wins. December and January? Inconsistencies everywhere. February? Injuries galore. But March and April… That’s when the pieces started to click. That’s when the Timberwolves became a _team_—not just a collection of players trying to share one basketball.
And then came the playoffs.
The catharsis of the first-round win over LeBron, Luka, and the [Lakers](https://www.silverscreenandroll.com) felt like 20 years of therapy in five games. The Wolves exorcised demons, relived trauma, and still found time to dunk on Jaxon Hayes. Then they smacked around the Warriors—featuring Jimmy Butler—and suddenly, they were back in the Western Conference Finals.
But here’s the thing: OKC just had _it_. That edge. That composure. That chip-on-the-shoulder energy of a team trying to wreck the league a year ahead of schedule. They had the best record in the league, winning 68 games, the league MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and a modern system that punished every mistake with a 7-0 run.
They outplayed us. Out-hustled us. Out-gritted us. Out-shot us. Out-coached us. Out-scowled us. And while we can whine about flopping or officiating or the fact that OKC’s fanbase is all kinds of ick, the truth is: they deserved it. And odds are, in about two weeks, the Thunder will be raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Still… we wanted more. And Game 5? It was just brutal. A 48-minute funeral. I wish the Wolves had gone out like Game 4—a gut-wrencher, sure, but at least we _played_. This? This was the basketball equivalent of the Red Wedding.
Let’s get to the report cards.
**Terrence Shannon Jr.: B+** Shannon was a rare bright spot in the dark. 11 points in 16 minutes, three fouls, one turnover, and about seven moments where he was the only guy on the court who looked like he gave a damn. His energy popped. He may very well be a major future piece in Minnesota, and tonight he earned some stripes.
**Anthony Edwards: C+** Ant was swarmed all game. 19 points. One-for-seven from deep. You could argue he didn’t do enough, but it felt more like he was trapped in a tornado of poor spacing and indecisive teammates. He tried to kick out. He tried to force his way through. Nothing worked. Not a highlight game, not even close, but you could tell he wanted it. That counts for something.
**Julius Randle: C+** The good: 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three. The bad: four turnovers, weird body language, and multiple defensive lapses that made you wonder if he was trying to ghost his own teammates. He put up numbers, but this was one of those classic “box score looks fine but you had to watch it to see the problem” games.
**Naz Reid: C** 5-of-6 from the field. One three. Five boards. Three blocks. And also? Five turnovers. It was the full Naz Reid spectrum. Chaos. Hustle. Talent. Sloppiness. He flashed, but he didn’t anchor. Which, on a night like this, was part of the problem.
**Donte DiVincenzo: C** Six points. Two threes. Six rebounds. A mostly forgettable performance, but not a disastrous one. He didn’t kill the Wolves. He just didn’t save them either.
**Jaden McDaniels: D+** Three wide-open corner threes early. Missed them all. Then everything unraveled. If he hits one, maybe the Wolves don’t open with a soul-crushing _nine-point first quarter_. The effort was there, but SGA and Jalen Williams carved up the Wolves’ defense like it was a rotisserie chicken. Jaden wasn’t solely responsible, but he sure didn’t stop the bleeding.
**Rudy Gobert: D** Two points. Five rebounds. That’s it. Rudy should’ve been a _monster_ against Chet and company, but he disappeared. Didn’t protect the rim. Didn’t dominate the glass. I’ll always love him for that Game 5 against the Lakers, but tonight? Tonight was a ghost story.
**Mike Conley: D** Zero points. Minus-22. If this was a war movie, he was the general who lost his map and accidentally marched his troops into quicksand. We love Mike. We respect Mike. But this was his worst game of the postseason, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.
**Nickeil Alexander-Walker: D-** After going flamethrower mode in Game 4, NAW followed it up with an 0-for-8 clunker that included missed layups, bricked threes, and two turnovers. It’s like Cinderella turned back into a pumpkin at midnight… except the pumpkin couldn’t hit an open corner three.
And so, the 2024-25 [Minnesota Timberwolves](https://www.canishoopus.com) season ends not with a bang, but with a whimper. But don’t let Game 5 erase the whole journey.
This team gave us something. They gave us the best playoff win in franchise history. They took down superstars. They made us believe. They made us _care_.
Yes, they left a bunch of points on the table, and yes, they’ll have to answer some hard questions this summer. But they also grew up. Anthony Edwards is a bona fide superstar. The team has pieces. They still have flexibility thanks to the KAT trade.
So yeah, it sucks. It stings. But maybe—just maybe—this wasn’t the end.
Maybe this was just the part of the movie where Rocky gets knocked down before he comes back swinging.
See you in October. Let’s go Wolves.