OKC Thunder Continue Avalanche Trend in Western Conference Finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder blew open the first two games of the Western Conference Finals to take a commanding 2-0 lead in series over the Minnesota Timberwolves thanks to season-long trend.

May 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) celebrate after a play in the third quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves during game two of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The NBA Playoffs are largely about what translates from the regular season and what doesn't. The Oklahoma City Thunder were a juggernaut in the 82-game marathon, but many questions what things would look like in a tighter playoff environment.

After sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the opening round as an appetizer against a team without a pulse or a coach, the Thunder survived a scare from the Denver Nuggets in a series that went the distance against a battle-tested crew.

This left the youngest team in the NBA Playoff field to the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves are repeat customers to this stage, after being ousted by the Dallas Mavericks in this setting a year ago, Minnesota is still seeking its first NBA Finals bid in franchise history.

The Timberwolves gave the 68-14 Thunder fits in the regular season and after Minnesota made quick work of the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, many –– including this scribe –– believed they would do the same in the postseason.

While my Thunder in seven prediction is still on the table, Oklahoma City's 2-0 start has caused plenty of overreactions that this series will be over sooner than later with the Bricktown Ballers halfway to its first NBA Finals berth since 2012.

The biggest reason why? Neither game was particularly close.

Minnesota let go of the rope in the opening games inside the Paycom Center to eventually get blown out in the second half of each game due to a season-long trend for Oklahoma City. It's stifling defense.

The Thunder's defensive unit has a unique ability to bounce physical play and poise on that end of the floor. Oklahoma City forces back-breaking turnovers and dictates the shot attempts they let up, which are often the uncomfortable ones for their opponent.

OKC's ability to bat, batter and bruise the basketball makes up the rebounding margin, they're the first ones to loose balls and parlay that into transition chances as a younger, more athletic team in every matchup.

Just as they did all regular season.

Despite not shooting the ball at a high-clip from beyond the arc in percentage or volume of makes this postseason, there has been no shortage of blowouts as the Thunder deflates opponents with its suffocating defense.

In Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder stacked stops that parlayed into a 14-2 run with each passing Chris Finch timeout, the frustration on the Minnesota sideline grew.

"You feel us stringing stops together... Us enjoying getting stops is the key to that," Superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said following Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.

The Thunder's consistency in decision-making on both ends plays a role in that. As the Thunder continued to get easy transition points, Oklahoma City routinely got to its spots in the half court with its big three to salt the game away.

"We were very confident in getting good spots on the floor, a continued understanding of how to attack this team... In the fourth, they threw different stuff at us. They were pretty aggressive on the ball. I thought our spacing and attacks were very good. We shot the right shots and made the right passes," Head Coach Mark Daigneault explained postgame.

After putting together a historically great season, especially on the defensive end, the Thunder's ability to play 48 minutes of harassing defense has more than translated to postseason play to allow Oklahoma City to live up to its contention status.

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