Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the Western Conference Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) as the Oklahoma City Thunder saw off the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94 to close out the series on Wednesday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who took home the Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson Trophy, finished with a game-high 34 points, adding seven rebounds and eight assists in Game 5 at Paycom Center.
He averaged 31.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists across five games in the Western Conference Finals to help OKC reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012, when they lost in five games to the Miami Heat.
WEDNESDAY’S FINAL SCORES
SGA powers the @okcthunder to the Finals for the first time since 2012!
Chet Holmgren: 22 PTS, 7 REB, 3 BLK
Jalen Williams: 19 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST#NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV Game 1: June 5, 8:30pm/et, ABC pic.twitter.com/VNkPXyE9Z7— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2025
The Thunder, who finished with a league-best 64-18 record during the regular season, became the second-youngest team (average age of 25.6 years) to reach the NBA Finals and the youngest since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977.
“It almost seemed like we did everything we were supposed to do,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “We made it tough on the guys we were supposed to make it tough on.
“Well, I thought it was tough for everybody [on the Timberwolves]. We were clicking on all cylinders as far as what their tendencies are, what our game plan is, how we want to impact the game, how we want to impact the ball.
“Then from there, we were able to just run and have fun and be ourselves. It really starts with defence for us.”
The Thunder, the league’s best defensive team during the regular season, held the Timberwolves to 32 points in the first half, including just nine in the first quarter – Minnesota’s fewest in any quarter this season and in franchise playoff history.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the first player to clinch an appearance in the NBA Finals in the same season he won MVP since Stephen Curry in 2015-16. He joins Curry, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant as the only players to do so in the last two decades.
MVP x
pic.twitter.com/uUWguSBdCF
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 29, 2025
“Obviously happy for the moment, but this isn’t our goal,” said the 26-year-old Canadian. “This isn’t the end of the road. There was no special conversation. It was just, let’s keep getting better. One more series to go.
“We are a step closer to our goal, and we’re happy about that. But there are still four more games to go win, four really hard games to go win. We need to be the best version of ourselves for four nights to reach the ultimate goal.”
BEST IN THE WEST
#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/1EuOvex5ax
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 29, 2025
Oklahoma got 22 points and seven rebounds from Chet Holmgren as well as 19 points and eight rebounds from Jalen Williams.
“Yeah, they’re special. I think the biggest thing is they make the NBA not feel like a job. And it can, at times, with all the travel and all the hard days, the ups and downs,” said Gilgeous-Alexander about his teammates.
“These guys really make it feel like I’m a kid playing AU basketball and 15 years old again. They make it seem like it’s just fun. And I think that’s what makes us really good.”
The Thunder, however, will wait for their Finals opponent, as the Eastern Conference Finals, in which the Indiana Pacers have a healthy 3-1 lead over the Knicks, head to New York for Game 5 on Thursday night.
