The Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves are the two teams left standing in the West, but the Thunder are standing tall and off to a blazing start in the conference finals. OKC has cruised in the first two games against Minnesota, winning both by 15+ points and now they take their act on the road. Game 3 is set for Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Both franchises are looking for a long-awaited NBA Finals appearance. Oklahoma City has not been to the NBA Finals since 2012, while the Timberwolves have no Finals appearances in their history.
The top-seeded Thunder have been the West’s top team all season long. They won 68 games in the regular season and swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. But they were tested in the second round by Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets. OKC won the second-round series in seven games, blowing out Denver in Game 7. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the presumptive NBA MVP, has been leading the Thunder in scoring throughout the playoffs and posted 31 points in Game 1 against the Wolves.
The Wolves have a superstar scorer of their own as Anthony Edwards has brought Minnesota to the conference finals for the second year in a row. The Timberwolves eliminated the Lakers and Warriors in five games through the first two rounds.
The Timberwolves hope to avenge last postseason’s conference finals disappointment, as they lost in five games against the Dallas Mavericks in 2024. The Thunder are in the conference finals for the first time since 2016, when they came up short against the Warriors.
Below is the complete schedule for the Western Conference finals.
Western Conference finals schedule
All times Eastern
Game 1: Thunder 114, Timberwolves 88
Game 2: Thunder 118, Timberwolves 103 — Oklahoma City leads 2-0
Game 3: Saturday, May 24 | Thunder vs. Timberwolves | 8:30 p.m., ABC/fubo
Game 4: Monday, May 26 | Thunder vs. Timberwolves | 8:30 p.m., ESPN/fubo
*Game 5: Wednesday, May 28 | Timberwolves vs. Thunder | 8:30 p.m., ESPN/fubo
*Game 6: Friday, May 30 | Thunder vs. Timberwolves | 8:30 p.m., ESPN/fubo
*Game 7: Sunday, June 1 | Timberwolves vs. Thunder | 8 p.m., ESPN/fubo
Thunder vs. Timberwolves odds
Odds via DraftKings
- Series odds: Thunder -1400, Timberwolves +850
- Game 2 odds: Thunder -2.5, O/U 218
Thunder vs. Timberwolves: Game 3 best bet
Umm… what exactly has happened in this series that suggests the Timberwolves are capable of playing a game within three points of the Thunder? Oklahoma City has won the first two games by 41 combined points. The Thunder have already won road games in Memphis and Denver this postseason, so a venue change to Minnesota doesn’t seem especially imposing. Oklahoma City has held Minnesota to just 32 points per game in the paint in this series, over nine fewer than any team in the NBA averaged in the regular season. Minnesota’s formula at this point is basically to hope that an abnormal percentage of their 3-pointers go in. I suppose it’s possible that it happens. It’s just not something they can rely on. The Thunder have beaten their brains in through two games. The Pick: Thunder -2.5
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