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

[Mavrelous]

Wolves are the only team that can match Thunder depth and athleticism, but Gobert on offense will give Chet and JDub room to wreak havoc on defense.
Rooting for Wolves, they were my pick to come out of the west, but think the Thunder are favourable.

[pepe1991]

I highly doubt OKC will lose more than 3 games for rest of title run.

[Statlanta]

This series will be the ultimate test of Edwards playmaking improvements from last season. The Thunder made Jokic look like a turnover machine. Will Edwards maintain his turnover economy?

I believe the Thunder have too many guys and it's their year.

[knicksfan974]

Wolves in 7. I think it will be a close series but finally the Wolves have the size advantage that could prove to be too much for OKC. It will be interesting to see how the Wolves handle the defensive pressure by OKC. If they cannot handle it and turn the ball over, then OKC might be the one who takes the series.

[Optms]

This series will be the ultimate test of Edwards playmaking improvements from last season. The Thunder made Jokic look like a turnover machine. Will Edwards maintain his turnover economy?

I believe the Thunder have too many guys and it's their year.

Edward's was really impressive passing out of double teams in the Lakers series.

What bodes well for him is he's an ultra athlete and won't get trapped nearly as easily as Joker did.

[Tomazan]

4-0 or 4-1. Thunder. Gobert will be unplayable this series.

[Mrakar]

This series will be the ultimate test of Edwards playmaking improvements from last season. The Thunder made Jokic look like a turnover machine. Will Edwards maintain his turnover economy?

I believe the Thunder have too many guys and it's their year.

They will not be allowed to foul him nearly as much as they did Jokic. However he is much worse playmaker then Jokic and that is big problem for Minnesota.

For me, the biggest question of the series is, will minnesota be allowed to play big? Will Randle get 3 offensive foul calls per game? Minnesota needs to be +10/15 on the boards minimum to win this.

[Tukkerwolf]

So funny how a lot of posts here seem to think this series is about ANT, because very Wolves fan knows it is not. Randle, Gobert, McD and Naz are just as important to the teams as Ant, no matter how hard US media like to think basketball is an individual sports.
I will pick OKC to win the series, but 'OKC trowing 3 bodies at Ant to stop him' has nothing to do with that.

[Patches Perry]

I have mentioned a few times this year that the player type OKC struggles with most is big forwards. That's because they have a nice center rotation, and a bunch of smaller guards (<6'6), but nobody really in the big forward mold. This is why LeBron was always a chore for them, why Aaron Gordon always was tough, and Julius Randle fits that bill also. I'll be interested to see how OKC gameplans for him.

[Optms]

I have mentioned a few times this year that the player type OKC struggles with most is big forwards. That's because they have a nice center rotation, and a bunch of smaller guards (<6'6), but nobody really in the big forward mold. This is why LeBron was always a chore for them, why Aaron Gordon always was tough, and Julius Randle fits that bill also. I'll be interested to see how OKC gameplans for him.

Randle should have a field day. He has been elite as a second option all playoffs. OKC will struggle keeping him in check.

[sashaturiaf]

No one is beating OKC if they're allowed to keep playing the way they are by fouling the **** out of the opponent on every play without any repercussions.

It's frankly boring basketball. Mugging your opponents and then scoring fast break layups takes no skill at all

[durden_tyler]

Can Vegas be wrong two series in a row? If Thunder wins series, the expected ending is Thunder in 5. But we all know what happened with the Nuggets. i guess Jokic was just too good Vegas did not expect it.

In order of “favorites” for how the Thunder ends this;

Thunder in 5
Thunder in 6
Thunder in 7
Thunder Sweep




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[Optms]

No one is beating OKC if they're allowed to keep playing the way they are by fouling the **** out of the opponent on every play without any repercussions.

It's frankly boring basketball. Mugging your opponents and then scoring fast break layups takes no skill at all

If you've noticed, every series has been way more physical than the OKC/Denver series has. But this is the only series where the most crying is being made.

OKC is actually the least physical team between these two. That's what makes your post hilarious.

[durden_tyler]

No one is beating OKC if they're allowed to keep playing the way they are by fouling the **** out of the opponent on every play without any repercussions.

It's frankly boring basketball. Mugging your opponents and then scoring fast break layups takes no skill at all

It’s beautiful smart basketball actually. Do it often enough and the refs will swallow their whistle— other teams should actually take note.


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[Patches Perry]

Can Vegas be wrong two series in a row? If Thunder wins series, the expected ending is Thunder in 5. But we all know what happened with the Nuggets. i guess Jokic was just too good Vegas did not expect it.

In order of “favorites” for how the Thunder ends this;

Thunder in 5
Thunder in 6
Thunder in 7
Thunder Sweep




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thunder are a tough team for Vegas because they have the highest highs but also prone to some pretty bad lows. Their spreads at home are usually 8-10 points and even on the road are 5-6 points because you have to respect their blowout ability. They also covered their spreads in like 65% of games this year (or some high percentage).

I made some decent money this series betting ML on Denver although lost half of it on game 7. Still out ahead though.

[durden_tyler]

Can Vegas be wrong two series in a row? If Thunder wins series, the expected ending is Thunder in 5. But we all know what happened with the Nuggets. i guess Jokic was just too good Vegas did not expect it.

In order of “favorites” for how the Thunder ends this;

Thunder in 5
Thunder in 6
Thunder in 7
Thunder Sweep




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thunder are a tough team for Vegas because they have the highest highs but also prone to some pretty bad lows. Their spreads at home are usually 8-10 points and even on the road are 5-6 points because you have to respect their blowout ability. They also covered their spreads in like 65% of games this year (or some high percentage).

I made some decent money this series betting ML on Denver although lost half of it on game 7. Still out ahead though.

Yeah, series bet win wasn’t that great, i lost most of it in Thunder spread thru Games 1 to 6. Game 7 i chickened out and just settled for the smaller Thunder ML win.

i wonder if they have learned their lesson already vs Denver and no Game 1 booboo and no more close games they should have won (Gordon 3 pointer).


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[Rdude22]

If Thunder win game 1, I think they’ll go on and take the series in 5. Meaning, they *should* win both home games, then split in MIN.

But if they come out flat/with dead legs after the emotional highs of game 7, I could see MIN stealing game 1 but OKC going on to win in 6.

Let’s not downplay how good DEN was. They were for sure the 3rd best team in the conference and would beat the flawed Lakers, inexperienced Rockets, and gimped Warriors. They beat a very good Clippers team that probably would’ve been favored over MIN if they had matched up.

That’s not to say MIN isn’t good, just depends on how Randle plays against Chet and Hartenstein.

[bbms]

Also, people calling OKC soft will be whining about OKC's physicality within 6 minutes of game 1. Seems to be a trend.

precisely

[bbms]

So funny how a lot of posts here seem to think this series is about ANT, because very Wolves fan knows it is not. Randle, Gobert, McD and Naz are just as important to the teams as Ant, no matter how hard US media like to think basketball is an individual sports.
I will pick OKC to win the series, but 'OKC trowing 3 bodies at Ant to stop him' has nothing to do with that.

ant is dort's chore.

murray/jokic is a mismatch for dort big body that sometimes struggle to get skinny on screens and is the least switchable of thunder perimeter defenders. that's the nature of his struggles.

ant is more of a straight line driver. expect dort to be on an island on ball defense and look much better

[kdthunderup]

Even though Minnesota probably has the better overall defense compared to Denver, I actually think Denver had the better personnel to bother OKC, especially with the zone looks they threw at them. Jokic could just camp in the paint and absorb drives, he is slow but has great positioning but it only worked because Gordon was covering so much ground. He’s an elite help defender who can recover and close out on shooters at a high level, basically cleaning up any mess and erasing corner looks. Braun brought the ball pressure, MPJ (despite his cold shooting) stayed on because his length helped clog passing lanes and contest shots from the zone. Gordon was the glue guy that held it all together. That’s where Minnesota comes up short, they just don’t have that guy like Gordon who can make the zone work as well. Randle is way too slow to cover ground like that and whilt Naz Reid is a bit more mobile he still struggles with quick reads and consistent effort. So even if the Wolves are better defensively on paper, I don’t think they can replicate Denver’s zone without it falling apart.

OKC in 6