Game ID: 42400312
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 8:30 PM ET
Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
OKC 29 29 35 25 118MIN 25 25 21 32 103
MIN @ OKC ScoutingMIN @ OKC Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
OKC availability going into 5/13 · 1 day's restOUT K. Williams missed 2 since 5/09, out tonight
OUT Mitchell missed 2 since 5/09, out tonight
OKC availability going into 5/15 · 1 day's restOUT K. Williams missed 3 since 5/09, out tonight
OUT Mitchell missed 3 since 5/09, returns tonight: 1 min (5% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/18 · 2 days' restOUT K. Williams missed 4 since 5/09, returns tonight: 8 min (52% of 15)
BACK Mitchell back 5/07 after 2, 7 min since (49% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/20 · 1 day's restBACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 8 min since (52% of 15)
BACK Mitchell back 5/15 after 3, 4 min since (30% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/22 · 1 day's restBACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 9 min since (58% of 15)
BACK Mitchell back 5/15 after 3, 3 min since (24% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/24 · 1 day's restOUT Jay. Williams missed 2 since 5/20, returns tonight: 17 min (120% of 14)
BACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 6 min since (42% of 15)
BACK Mitchell back 5/15 after 3, 3 min since (24% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/26 · 1 day's restBACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 8 min since (55% of 15)
BACK Jay. Williams back 5/24 after 2, 17 min since (120% of 14)
BACK Mitchell back 5/15 after 3, 7 min since (52% of 14)
OKC availability going into 5/28 · 1 day's restBACK K. Williams back 5/18 after 4, 9 min since (61% of 15)
BACK Jay. Williams back 5/24 after 2, 9 min since (60% of 14)
OKC availability going into 6/05 · 7 days' restBACK Jay. Williams back 5/24 after 2, 8 min since (52% of 14)
MIN availability going into 5/10 · 1 day's restOUT Dillingham missed 8 since 4/13, out tonight
BACK Clark back 5/08 after 5, 3 min since (28% of 12)
MIN availability going into 5/12 · 1 day's restOUT Dillingham missed 9 since 4/13, out tonight
BACK Clark back 5/08 after 5, 3 min since (28% of 12)
MIN availability going into 5/14 · 1 day's restOUT Clark missed 2 since 5/10, out tonight
OUT Dillingham missed 10 since 4/13, out tonight
MIN availability going into 5/20 · 5 days' restOUT Clark missed 3 since 5/10, returns tonight: 6 min (52% of 12)
OUT Dillingham missed 11 since 4/13, returns tonight: 2 min (20% of 10)
NEW McDaniels 32 to 39 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 5/22 · 1 day's restBACK Clark back 5/08 after 5, 5 min since (40% of 12)
BACK Dillingham back 5/20 after 11, 2 min since (20% of 10)
NEW Randle 33 to 38 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 5/24 · 1 day's restBACK Clark back 5/20 after 3, 6 min since (52% of 12)
BACK Dillingham back 5/20 after 11, 2 min since (20% of 10)
NEW Randle 33 to 38 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 5/26 · 1 day's restBACK Clark back 5/20 after 3, 8 min since (63% of 12)
BACK Dillingham back 5/20 after 11, 5 min since (48% of 10)
MIN availability going into 5/28 · 1 day's restBACK Clark back 5/20 after 3, 8 min since (63% of 12)
BACK Dillingham back 5/20 after 11, 5 min since (48% of 10)
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 110 a night and allowing 98, shooting 46 percent and 33 from three, 23 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 31 and Jal. Williams at 15 a game. One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 105, shooting 48 percent and 39 from three, 21 free throws a game; Randle at 27 and Edwards at 25 a game. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 17 times a game to OKC's 12 and the arc, Minnesota at 39 percent from three to OKC's 33. Call it OKC 112, Minnesota 106.
5/13 vs DEN 112-105 — OKC notes
OKC won 112-105. OKC shot 50% (41 of 82) to DEN's 41%, 12 of 29 from three, and went to the line 23 times to DEN's 13 — 18 points from the stripe to their 12. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 31 (12 of 23, 1 of 3 from three, 6 of 6 at the line); Jal. Williams added 18, Hartenstein 15. The hinge was Q4, 34-19: OKC came in trailing by 8 and left it ahead by 7. OKC trailed 54-56 at the half and won the second half 58-49. Holmgren was the night's best plus/minus at +13.
5/15 @ DEN 107-119 — OKC notes
OKC lost 107-119. OKC shot 47% (43 of 92) to DEN's 47%, 11 of 40 from three, and got to the line 16 times to DEN's 32. The glass went 40-52 against them. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 32 (11 of 16, 2 of 4 from three, 8 of 11 at the line); Holmgren added 19, Caruso 10. Q2 was theirs, 33-27, turning a 3-point deficit into a 3-point lead, but the other 3 periods went 92-74 against them. They led by as many as 12. Dort's -18 in 21 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/18 vs DEN 125-93 — OKC notes
OKC won 125-93. OKC shot 49% (47 of 96) to DEN's 39%, 12 of 39 from three. OKC turned it over 9 times to DEN's 22. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 35 (12 of 19, 3 of 4 from three, 8 of 9 at the line); Jal. Williams added 24, Holmgren 13. The hinge was Q2, 39-20: OKC came in trailing by 5 and left it ahead by 14, and the lead reached 43. Caruso was the night's best plus/minus at +40.
5/20 vs MIN 114-88 — OKC notes
OKC won 114-88. OKC shot 50% (41 of 82) to MIN's 35%, 11 of 21 from three. OKC turned it over 12 times to MIN's 17. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 31 (10 of 27, 0 of 4 from three, 11 of 14 at the line); Jal. Williams added 19, Holmgren 15. The hinge was Q4, 38-22: a lead of 10 became 26. OKC trailed 44-48 at the half and won the second half 70-40. Gilgeous-Alexander was the night's best plus/minus at +22.
5/22 vs MIN 118-103 — OKC notes
OKC won 118-103. OKC shot 50% (45 of 90) to MIN's 41%, 9 of 33 from three. OKC turned it over 6 times to MIN's 14. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 38 (12 of 21, 13 of 15 at the line); Jal. Williams added 26, Holmgren 22. The hinge was Q3, 35-21: a lead of 8 became 22. Dort was the night's best plus/minus at +29.
5/24 @ MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 110, shooting 46 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Edwards at 28 and Randle at 24 a game. One day's rest. OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 102, shooting 49 percent and 34 from three, 23 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 33 and Jal. Williams at 19 a game. That is 3 straight wins. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, on the road, and the game turns on the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 18 times a game to OKC's 10 and the defense, OKC allowing 102 a night to Minnesota's 110. Call it OKC 112, Minnesota 108, Minnesota keeping it close.
5/26 @ MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 21 free throws a game; Edwards at 26 and Randle at 24 a game. One day's rest. OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 32 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 30 and Jal. Williams at 18 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-3 a night and OKC minus-6 and the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 10. Call it Minnesota 113, OKC 112, OKC keeping it close.
5/28 vs MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 23 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 32 and Jal. Williams at 23 a game. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 114, shooting 50 percent and 38 from three, 21 free throws a game; Edwards at 24 and Randle at 18 a game. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-4 a night and OKC minus-4 and the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 11. Call it OKC 116, Minnesota 111.
6/05 vs IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 31 and Jal. Williams at 22 a game. 7 days' rest. Indiana comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 27 free throws a game; Siakam at 26 and Haliburton at 19 a game. It has lost the glass by 5 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (92 straight). 4 days' rest.
So: OKC wins, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it OKC 117, Indiana 111.
5/10 @ GSW 102-97 — MIN notes
MIN won 102-97. MIN shot 44% (36 of 82) to GSW's 43%, 13 of 34 from three. Edwards led with 36 (13 of 28, 5 of 14 from three, 5 of 8 at the line); Randle added 24, McDaniels 15. The hinge was Q4, 33-24: MIN came in trailing by 4 and left it ahead by 5. MIN trailed 40-42 at the half and won the second half 62-55. Randle was the night's best plus/minus at +14.
5/12 @ GSW 117-110 — MIN notes
MIN won 117-110. MIN shot 49% (39 of 79) to GSW's 44%, 16 of 34 from three, and got to the line 26 times to GSW's 33. Randle led with 31 (11 of 21, 4 of 8 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Edwards added 30, Alexander-Walker 13. The hinge was Q3, 39-17: MIN came in trailing by 2 and left it ahead by 20. MIN trailed 58-60 at the half and won the second half 59-50. Conley was the night's best plus/minus at +17.
5/14 vs GSW 121-110 — MIN notes
MIN won 121-110. MIN shot 63% (49 of 78) to GSW's 43%, 13 of 31 from three, and got to the line 15 times to GSW's 30. Randle led with 29 (13 of 18, 2 of 6 from three); Edwards added 22, Gobert 17. The hinge was Q2, 32-24: a lead of 7 became 15, and the lead reached 25. Gobert was the night's best plus/minus at +21.
5/20 @ OKC 88-114 — MIN notes
MIN lost 88-114. MIN shot 35% (29 of 83) to OKC's 50%, 15 of 51 from three. MIN turned it over 17 times to OKC's 12, and OKC turned those into 13 steals. Randle led with 28 (9 of 13, 5 of 6 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Edwards added 18. Q1 was theirs, 23-20, but the other 3 periods went 94-65 against them. Edwards's -23 in 37 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/22 @ OKC 103-118 — MIN notes
MIN lost 103-118. MIN shot 41% (36 of 87) to OKC's 50%, 11 of 39 from three. MIN turned it over 14 times to OKC's 6, and OKC turned those into 9 steals. Edwards led with 32 (12 of 26, 1 of 9 from three, 7 of 10 at the line); McDaniels added 22, Alexander-Walker 17. Q4 was theirs, 32-25, the deficit cut from 22 to 15, but the other 3 periods went 93-71 against them. DiVincenzo's -27 in 22 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/24 vs OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 110, shooting 46 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Edwards at 28 and Randle at 24 a game. One day's rest. OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 102, shooting 49 percent and 34 from three, 23 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 33 and Jal. Williams at 19 a game. That is 3 straight wins. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, on the road, and the game turns on the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 18 times a game to OKC's 10 and the defense, OKC allowing 102 a night to Minnesota's 110. Call it OKC 112, Minnesota 108, Minnesota keeping it close.
5/26 vs OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 111, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 21 free throws a game; Edwards at 26 and Randle at 24 a game. One day's rest. OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 32 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 30 and Jal. Williams at 18 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-3 a night and OKC minus-6 and the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 10. Call it Minnesota 113, OKC 112, OKC keeping it close.
5/28 @ OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 23 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 32 and Jal. Williams at 23 a game. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 114, shooting 50 percent and 38 from three, 21 free throws a game; Edwards at 24 and Randle at 18 a game. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-4 a night and OKC minus-4 and the turnovers, Minnesota giving it away 16 times a game to OKC's 11. Call it OKC 116, Minnesota 111.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
MINAE A. Edwards
DD D. DiVincenzo
JM J. McDaniels
JR J. Randle
MC M. Conley
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
OKCAC A. Caruso
AW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
IH I. Hartenstein
IJ I. Joe
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
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
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
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
Gilgeous-Alexander and Thunder overwhelm Timberwolves again, win 118-103 for 2-0 West finals lead
OKLAHOMA CITY -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points a day after being named the NBA's MVP , and the Oklahoma City Thunder overwhelmed the Minnesota Timberwolves again, winning 118-103 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander made 12 of 21 field goals and 13 of 15 free throws after receiving his MVP trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver before the game.
“I feel like all my emotions were so high, but I was a little bit tired out there, especially at the start," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I was a little too juiced up. Special moment. I’m happy we won so I can really enjoy the last couple days and soak it up. That really helps.”
Jalen Williams had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Chet Holmgren added 22 points for the Thunder.
Oklahoma City's Lu Dort was named first-team all defense and Williams was named second-team all-defense earlier in the day. They helped anchor a unit that held Minnesota to 41.4% shooting.
“When you win games, you do it together and you have fun out there, everything else -- all the individual stuff you want -- it comes with it," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Anthony Edwards scored 32 points but it took him 26 shots to get them. Jaden McDaniels scored 22 points and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 17 for the Timberwolves.
Game 3 is Saturday in Minneapolis.
Gilgeous-Alexander hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the first half, then made a pair of free throws with 3 seconds remaining to help Oklahoma City take a 58-50 lead. He scored 19 points before the break.
“We didn’t close the half very well," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “I thought if we close the half better then we don’t put ourselves on such a razor edge in the third.”
In the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander drove to the paint and threw up a wild shot that went in as he was fouled by his cousin, Alexander-Walker. Gilgeous-Alexander made the free throw to give the Thunder a 73-64 lead.
A lob by Cason Wallace to Holmgren for a two-handed jam on a fast break put Oklahoma City up 82-65 late in the third quarter. The Thunder took a 93-71 advantage into the fourth.
Minnesota closed to within 10 in the final period, but Oklahoma City kept the Timberwolves at bay late. Now, Minnesota gets to go home, where it is 4-1 in the playoffs.
Finch remained optimistic.
“Every minute in a series is a chance to find something," he said. "So we’re going to go back home. This is a good team at home. So we’re going to go home and fight for Game 3. Heads up, look at the tape and get ready for Game 3.”