OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Jalen Williams added 24 and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled into the Western Conference finals, beating the Denver Nuggets 125-93 in Game 7. The top-seeded Thunder will host the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves starting Tuesday. It’s Oklahoma City’s first trip to the conference finals since 2016. Oklahoma City won a league-best 68 games in the regular season. The Thunder lost to Dallas in the conference semifinals last year as the No. 1 seed in the West. This time, the Thunder had to get past three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and a Denver squad that won the NBA title in 2023.
The NBA’s final 4 is set: Thunder, Knicks, Wolves and Pacers remain, and parity reigns again
There will be a new NBA champion. A lot of them, actually, considering almost all of the players left in these playoffs have not even played in the NBA Finals. The New York Knicks haven’t won an NBA championship since 1973. The Indiana Pacers won their most recent title that year — in the ABA. The Oklahoma City Thunder franchise has one title in its history, that coming in 1979 when the team called Seattle home. And the Minnesota Timberwolves have never even been to the NBA Finals.