Minnesota Timberwolves @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 8:30 PM ET
Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK | Game ID: 42400311
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
OKC 20 24 32 38 114MIN 23 25 18 22 88
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder beat the rested Timberwolves 114-88 in Game 1 of West finals
OKLAHOMA CITY -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half, and the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-88 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander made 8 of 14 field goals in the second half after a rough start.
“I didn’t particularly change my mindset, honestly,” he said, “I just tried to continue to be aggressive, trust my work.”
Julius Randle scored 28 points for sixth-seeded Minnesota, but just eight in the second half.
Anthony Edwards , who had been averaging 26.5 points per game in the playoffs, was held to 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
“I definitely got to shoot more. I took 13 (expletive) shots, but I’ll say probably just get off the ball a little more,” Edwards said. “Play without the ball. I think that would be the answer, because playing on the ball, they’re just going to double and sit in the gaps all day. So I’ve got to go watch some film and take it apart and figure it out.”
Edwards said the Thunder packed the paint, and he expects the Timberwolves to take advantage of that tactic going forward. Game 2 is Thursday in Oklahoma City.
“They bank on us not making shots, I guess, because every time I go to the rim it’s like four people," he said. “So yeah, I guess they just be clogging the paint. They put like five, four bodies in the paint, make you kick it out. So keep making the right play.”
Oklahoma City was just two days removed from eliminating Denver in Game 7 of the conference semifinals . Minnesota hadn’t played in a week.
Minnesota led 48-44 at halftime as Randle scored 20 points and made 5 of 6 3-pointers. Gilgeous-Alexander was held to 11 points on 2-of-13 shooting before the break.
“For us to play as poorly as we did offensively in the first half and be down four was a major victory for us at halftime," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
The Thunder went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter to take a 66-60 lead. A short time later, Kenrich Williams , a rarely-used sub this postseason, hit a midrange jumper and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to put the Thunder up 71-62. Oklahoma City outscored Minnesota 32-18 in the third quarter to take a 76-66 advantage into the fourth.
A spinning dunk by Holmgren in traffic put Oklahoma City ahead 86-75 and drew a roar from the crowd. Gilgeous-Alexander threw up a prayer as he was being fouled while falling to the floor. The ball rolled in, and he made the free throw to make it 91-77 with seven minutes remaining.
“It’s Game 1," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “They won at home. Congrats to them. They played really well. There’s another game in two days.”
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
MINAE A. Edwards
DD D. DiVincenzo
JC J. Clark
JM J. McDaniels
JM J. Minott
JR J. Randle
MC M. Conley
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RD R. Dillingham
RG R. Gobert
TS T. Shannon Jr.
OKCAC A. Caruso
AW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
DJ D. Jones
IH I. Hartenstein
IJ I. Joe
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
MI Mitchell
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
MIN/OKC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur