OKC Thunder Punches Ticket to NBA Finals with Win Over Timberwolves

On Wednesday evening, the Oklahoma City Thunder will look to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals with a win over the Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.

Oklahoma City saw potentially its best win of the season on Monday, cruising to a two-point victory behind 95 combined points from its big three in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. OKC would take a 3-1 advantage, doing so on Minnesota's home turf.

The Thunder have made the Finals just once since moving from Seattle, doing so in 2012 against LeBron James’ Miami Heat. Should OKC win tonight, they’ll face the winner of the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers in the East. Indiana currently leads the series, 3-1.

Here are live updates for Game 5:

First Quarter: Thunder 26, Timberwolves 9

The Thunder got off to a shaky start in its first few offensive possessions, looking wound up. It would quickly settle in with five-straight points from Chet Holmgren, cruising to a 9-3 lead.

The Oklahoma City defense, like usual, is flying around. The home squad has held the Wolves to just seven first-quarter points through nearly nine minutes, taking a 12-point lead in the process. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 11 early points on 5-for-7 shooting, helping his squad to a 22-7 lead to force two Minnesota timeouts.

OKC played with its hair on fire in the opening frame, cruising to a double-digit lead with great offense and defense.

Halftime: Thunder 65, Timberwolves 32

The beginning of the second quarter was much of the same for both teams, with Oklahoma City continuing to show feisty defensive effort turned into offense. The Wolves have looked rattled since the start, failing to put together any replicable scoring. OKC leads, 36-14, with nine minutes remaining until half.

Oklahoma City has continued its run of dominance, going up by as much as 32 points due to stingy defense and calculated offense. The Timberwolves have shot just 32% in total, and turned the ball over 13 times.

All in all, the Thunder put together one of their more dominant halves of the season in the first half of Game 5.

Third Quarter: Thunder 88, Timberwolves 62

The third quarter has offered less intensity from OKC, with the Wolves cutting ever-so-slightly into the Thunder lead with some shot-making from Anthony Edwards. Still, the team has ground to make up with the deficit still at 30.

The Wolves have continued to chip slightly into OKC's large lead, whittling it down from 37 to 24. OKC has done well answering mini-Wolves runs here in the third, bolstering it's lead some with Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort buckets.

While the Wolves looked more likely and comfortable than the previous two quarter, they couldn't dig into the lead enough, remaining down 26 to start the final frame.

Fourth Quarter:

Oklahoma City would keep its primary core in for the start of the fourth quarter. Two early triples from Chet Holmgren and Dort, along with continued success from Gilgeous-Alexander, would blossom the lead back to a nearly insurmountable 31 with nine minutes to play.

Minnesota would waive the essential white flag mid-way through the quarter.