BBNBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads Thunder to first NBA Finals since 2012

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having one of the best individual NBA seasons of all time. MVP of the league at 26 years old? Check. MVP of the Western Conference Finals? Another check. Winning the NBA Finals? Check back in a couple of weeks.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named All-SEC during his lone season at Kentucky in 2017-18, has the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012 — back when Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden were battling with the Miami Heat’s Big 3. On Wednesday night, OKC took down Julius Randle and the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5, 124-94, to win the Western Conference Finals 4-1.

It was, once again, another dominating performance from SGA. The former Wildcat went for 34 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and two steals with just a pair of turnovers in his 33 minutes played. He shot 14-25 from the field, 2-4 from deep, and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. After escaping Game 4 with a win on the road, OKC blew out Minnesota from start to finish in Game 5 at the home barn. The Thunder were ahead by double-digits midway through the opening quarter and led by as many as 39 points. Gilgeous-Alexander saw just three minutes of action in the fourth quarter as OKC was cruising.

“It almost seemed like we did everything we were supposed to do,” Gilgeous-Alexander said postgame. “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.”

SGA has been excellent throughout all three of the Thunder’s series in these playoffs. He was at his best in the Western Conference Finals, scoring 31 or more points in all but one of the five games — the lone game OKC lost. For the series, he averaged 31.4 points, 8.2 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 36.4 minutes per contest on shooting splits of 45.7/31.8/86.3.

He was an easy pick for MVP of the WCF.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the Western Conference Finals MVP 🙌 pic.twitter.com/pkcIHIjfg6

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 29, 2025

But Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t do it all on his own. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren both had moments of brilliance all series long. The defense from Alex Caruso and Lu Dort had Anthony Edwards living in hell for five full games. But we can’t forget the importance of second-year guard Cason Wallace, who looks like anything but a 21-year-old.

Wallace isn’t one to hunt for his shot, but he always found ways to nail timely three-pointers or jet ahead in transition for easy buckets. The 6-foot-4 guard has established himself as one of the best on-ball defenders in the entire world. He averaged five points, 3.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game in the WCF. Although he didn’t shoot the ball well, OKC had to leave him on the court — he consistently made winning plays on both ends of the ball. His incredible poise at such a young age is amazing to watch, although not much of a surprise to those who watched him play at Kentucky.

As a side note, how about this for a stat on OKC: according to the Elias Sports Bureau, this season’s Thunder group is the second-youngest ever (average age of 25.6 years old) to reach the Finals, behind only the 1976-77 Trail Blazers team that won the title.

“We are a step closer to our goal, and we’re happy about that,” Gilgeous-Alexander added. “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.”

But while OKC is moving on, the season comes to an end for a couple of other Kentucky alums. Randle and rookie Rob Dillingham have officially been knocked out of the Playoffs. This postseason was somewhat of a redemption run for Randle, who struggled heavily in his first few Playoff series. Randle was excellent through the first two rounds, but his WCF appearance came with some struggles. Even still, he averaged 21.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 15 postseason games this year.

Meanwhile, Dillingham saw a total of 17 minutes in the playoffs, all coming in garbage time across three games against the Thunder. With Wednesday’s Game 5 quickly turning into a blowout, Dillingham was able to manage seven points and two assists in over six minutes.

OKC could learn its NBA Finals opponent as soon as the end of the night. Can Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks overcome a 3-1 series deficit? Or will Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers close things out in New York? Regardless of who comes out of the Eastern Conference Finals, we’re going to be treated to some terrific basketball in the Finals.

Tonight in the NBA Playoffs

Eastern Conference Finals | Game 5 | IND leads 3-1
8:00 (TNT) | (4) Pacers (Jackson: out) @ (5) Knicks (Towns: questionable)