2025 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: #1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #6 Minnesota Timberwolves (OKC leads 1-0)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

well I think we still paid A LOT of money to Hartenstein...not a single contender could financially afford giving that much money to him. The Caruso situation was different.

If I was running the Magic, I would have overpaid Hartenstein. He was who I wanted the magic to target (and they had the money) but if I'm being honest, Orlando probably had little shot at landing him since OKC was an actual contender even without Hartenstein.

I mean yeah, OKC gave him the most money and offered him the best situation. Not sure what any other team could have done.

Realistically he put up 8 and 8 last year, was some team supposed to give him a max contract to block him from going to OKC?

Unrelated, but I think Derek Lively is equally effective. The Lakers and more than half the league can use him,

[76ciology]

The Wolves are basically sending a message.. if the NBA is going to give Shai this many calls, they’re not going to play along and put on a good entertainment product. They know they’re likely to drop a game this series, might as well make it Game 1 at home.

[scrabbarista]

The Knicks were going to be pay him 4 years/72. If the Thunder didn't pony up, he'd still be in NYC.

I'm hoping to see OKC vs. NYK in the Finals.

Please no OKC vs Pacers at least. It’ll be one of the least watched nba finals in a veryyyyy long time.

This is the best matchup, though.

[DonaldSanders]

The Wolves are basically sending a message.. if the NBA is going to give Shai this many calls, they’re not going to play along and put on a good entertainment product. They know they’re likely to drop a game this series, might as well make it Game 1 at home.

Even FTs on a night where OKC shot 21 3s (52.4%) vs. MIN's 51 (29.4%).

Maybe MIN should stop jacking bad 3s and instead drive more? Shot selection matters.

[stuporman]

I don't know where you grew up.. but you can go anywhere in America and half of the people loved Kobe and the other half despised him. Non NBA fans even. He transcended the sport and was polarizing in a lot of ways. As time went by and he started to decline and also garnered some more championships along the way (without Shaq), people stopped wasting their energy hating on him and LeBron then took that mantle via going to the Heat (with fans.. Media ride or die for Bron)

So it was only half and half? Doesn't sound like villain of the league to me, only half hated...I appreciate you keep making my point for me.

Yes half.. at extremes.

Remember this was your question:

Has any team been the darling and villain of the league at the same time?

Half and half its the right amount brudda.

Is Kobe a team?

[Ugly0598]

The Wolves are basically sending a message.. if the NBA is going to give Shai this many calls, they’re not going to play along and put on a good entertainment product. They know they’re likely to drop a game this series, might as well make it Game 1 at home.

[Black Jack]

in my day kids, somebody would just effing deck sga

if you're gonna get called for fouls make 'em count

[syrus3]

Finch has to play Jaylen Clark more minutes and bench Donte.

[LSWF]

Has FTA seen a true hard PO foul yet this year?

[DonaldSanders]

Has FTA seen a true hard PO foul yet this year?

First real playoff test and some Wolve fans are crying ref after a 26 point loss. Wake up to reality.

[76ciology]

The Wolves are basically sending a message.. if the NBA is going to give Shai this many calls, they’re not going to play along and put on a good entertainment product. They know they’re likely to drop a game this series, might as well make it Game 1 at home.

Even FTs on a night where OKC shot 21 3s (52.4%) vs. MIN's 51 (29.4%).

Maybe MIN should stop jacking bad 3s and instead drive more? Shot selection matters.

It’s tough to drive against OKC’s defense, even Jokic was forced into taking 10, 7, and 8 threes from Games 3 to 5. To break them down, you have to beat that first line of defense (Ant did it once by running PnR and keeping the defender behind him) and create a numbers advantage from the perimeter, then space the floor and kick out to open shooters.

The problem is, Edwards struggled to get past that initial line of defense, and Minnesota’s spacing isn’t helping.

The Wolves need to show zone principles whenever SGA drives, even if it seems unnecessary on paper since McDaniels or NAW can guard him one-on-one. The goal is to disrupt SGA’s rhythm and force him into tougher reads.

Ant has seen this type of defense before, like against the Lakers, but the personnel is a different story. From Austin Reaves to Alex Caruso, it’s night and day compared to OKC’s length and activity.

Watch on YouTube

[California Gold]

Not surprised by the result. OKC is just a better team. Whether they win in 4, 5, 6 or 7 - I don't have my doubts about them winning if they remain healthy. Denver tested OKC well enough, Minnesota while still tough won't be as much of a challenge to defend for OKC as Denver was.

[LSWF]

Has FTA seen a true hard PO foul yet this year?

First real playoff test and some Wolve fans are crying ref after a 26 point loss. Wake up to reality.

No crying here. I have been an anti flop guy forever. I don't think unethical basketball is fun to watch. I've said it before, if Ant ever starts flopping like so many NBA stars, it will be a very sad day for me. That is when I will cry.

[DonaldSanders]

Has FTA seen a true hard PO foul yet this year?

First real playoff test and some Wolve fans are crying ref after a 26 point loss. Wake up to reality.

No crying here. I have been an anti flop guy forever. I don't think unethical basketball is fun to watch. I've said it before, if Ant ever starts flopping like so many NBA stars, it will be a very sad day for me. That is when I will cry.

I agree some of the SGA fouls tonight were soft, and floppish. But I saw a few soft fouls for the Wolves as well, but they weren't concentrated to one player, so it's harder to focus outrage.

My main complaint with the thread I'm seeing is mostly officiating complaints in a 26pt loss when the discussion should be about what can Minnesota do to play better, because they did not get beaten by the zebras.

[lethalizer]

The Wolves are basically sending a message.. if the NBA is going to give Shai this many calls, they’re not going to play along and put on a good entertainment product. They know they’re likely to drop a game this series, might as well make it Game 1 at home.

I think they should try to send that message via Starlink, heard it has some decent internet speed.

[SlimShady83]

I missed the game so just looking at box score and holy smokes lol

Go OKC!

[LSWF]

First real playoff test and some Wolve fans are crying ref after a 26 point loss. Wake up to reality.

No crying here. I have been an anti flop guy forever. I don't think unethical basketball is fun to watch. I've said it before, if Ant ever starts flopping like so many NBA stars, it will be a very sad day for me. That is when I will cry.

I agree some of the SGA fouls tonight were soft, and floppish. But I saw a few soft fouls for the Wolves as well, but they weren't concentrated to one player, so it's harder to focus outrage.

My main complaint with the thread I'm seeing is mostly officiating complaints in a 26pt loss when the discussion should be about what can Minnesota do to play better, because they did not get beaten by the zebras.

Wolves need to make baskets. Bench has to be much better. It's a seven game series. They won't look this bad forever.

[76ciology]

You need two guards who can break the zone, just like how the Mavs do it with Luka and Kyrie attacking from both sides. The Wolves tried a version of that with Ant, Donte, and Naz, but Donte and Naz aren’t great at breaking down their defenders. Dillinger eventually played the game on garbage time, I dont know if they plan to use him next game

On top of that, spacing has to be better. Get Gobert off the floor and lean into more zone defense. If it turns into a shooting contest off kickouts from the primary creator, so be it, that’s still better than letting SGA collapse the defense every time.

[76ciology]

If the refs are calling fouls like that, you have no choice but to adjust. Run a zone and force SGA to kick it out. Then you just rotate on defense where you have multiple lengthy athletic guys who can cover space.

[Lalouie]

that's a fun start

wolves are a 35% 3pt shooting team and they decided to spray 51 3's to see if any stuck to the wall

okc, otoh, stuck with the 2 and minnie allowed 50%