BBNBA WCF Preview: Gilgeous-Alexander leads Thunder against Randle, Timberwolves

What started with 16 teams (well, 20 if we include the Play-In) over a month ago has dwindled to just a final four. The 2025 NBA Playoffs have entered Conference Finals territory — and there are plenty of former Kentucky Wildcats looking to win their first-ever NBA Finals.

In part one of KSR’s two-part Conference Finals preview, we’re starting in the Western Conference. The top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, which won a franchise record 68 games in 2024-25, will take on the 6-seed Minnesota Timberwolves beginning Tuesday night in OKC. Neither team has won the championship throughout its history (although the Seattle Supersonics, which moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, did win a title in 1979). This will mark the first Western Conference Finals matchup in 29 years that didn’t feature a team from California or Texas.

Thunder-Wolves is going to revolve around the head-to-head superstar matchup between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) and Anthony Edwards (MIN). Gilgeous-Alexander is expected to be announced as the league’s MVP any day now, which would make him the first Kentucky alum to do so. As the leader of this young and talented Thunder team, he’ll be facing plenty of pressure both on and off the floor. That will be complicated even more going up against Minnesota’s own superstar in Edwards.

Don’t expect these two to guard each other every possession down the floor, but we’ll certainly get some samples of it. If anyone is going to take on the task of defending Edwards for OKC, it’ll likely be the rotating trio of Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, and Cason Wallace. The latter has been excellent these Playoffs in just his second NBA season, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. OKC in general boasts a terrific defense, leading the NBA in defensive rating this season, and Wallace is among the best on-ball defenders in the world. But he can also dunk on the head of seven-footers and knock down some open three-pointers when asked to.

Back to Gilgeous-Alexander for a second, though. After a historic regular season scoring the ball, he hasn’t been as efficient so far in the postseason. He’s shooting just 29.3 percent from deep and a few percentage points worse from two-point range. That being said, SGA is hitting his groove at the perfect time. Over the final three games of OKC’s seven-game series win against the Denver Nuggets, SGA averaged 32.7 points on shooting splits of 60.3/54.5/84.6. Minnesota will show him the league’s sixth-best defense, but the former Kentucky guard appears ready for the moment. All eyes will be on the presumptive MVP.

And we haven’t even mentioned Julius Randle yet, which is admittedly a bit disrespectful to the 6-foot-9 forward. After being criticized throughout his career as someone who struggles in the Playoffs, Randle has turned into Minnesota’s second-best player this postseason. Edwards has been awesome, but the Wolves aren’t in this position without Randle’s efforts on both ends of the floor.

Through 10 postseason games, Randle has averaged 23.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 37.8 minutes per outing on shooting splits of 50.9/34.5/88.9. So far, he’s completely changed the narrative surrounding his career, but he’ll need to keep it up in his first-ever Conference Finals appearance. OKC has the depth advantage; Randle will have to bring it every single game in extended minutes.

As a quick note, we likely won’t see much, if anything, out of Minnesota rookie Rob Dillingham. The former lottery pick was stuck on the bench all season, and that has continued into the playoffs. He hasn’t played in a game since April 11 during the regular season. But all it takes is one injury to someone ahead of him for Dillingham to see some surprise minutes.

OKC is favored to win this series. There will be star power on both sides. OKC holds a top-five offensive and defensive rating. Minnesota ranks among the top 10 in both categories. No one has been a bigger playoff riser this postseason than Edwards, but the Thunder have the deeper and more talented overall group. I’m expecting a long and exciting series.

KSR’s Prediction: Thunder in 7

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (6) Minnesota Timberwolves

• Game 1: Timberwolves vs. Thunder (Tue. May 20, 8:30 ET, ESPN)
• Game 2: Timberwolves vs. Thunder (Thu. May 22, 8:30 ET, ESPN)
• Game 3: Thunder vs. Timberwolves (Sat. May 24, 8:30 ET, ABC)
• Game 4: Thunder vs. Timberwolves (Mon. May 26, 8:30 ET, ESPN)
• Game 5: Timberwolves vs. Thunder (Wed. May 28, 8:30 ET, ESPN)*
• Game 6: Thunder vs. Timberwolves (Fri. May 30, 8:30 ET, ESPN)*
• Game 7: Timberwolves vs. Thunder (Sun. June 1, 8 ET, ESPN)*
  * if necessary