The 2025 NBA Conference Finals are underway, featuring the top teams vying for a place in the championship round.
In the Western Conference, the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, fresh off a challenging seven-game series victory over the Denver Nuggets, began their final series on Tuesday night. They secured a Game 1 win against the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander`s 31-point performance. Anthony Edwards led the visiting Timberwolves.
The Eastern Conference Finals will see the third-seeded New York Knicks face the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. This highly anticipated series features a marquee matchup between star guards Tyrese Haliburton and Jalen Brunson. Both franchises are aiming for their first NBA Finals berth in over two decades, with the Knicks last appearing in 1999 and the Pacers in 2000.
As these elite teams compete, NBA insiders provide their key takeaways from the early games and highlight what to monitor in these pivotal conference showdowns.
Western Conference
(1) Oklahoma City Thunder lead (6) Minnesota Timberwolves 1-0
Game 1: Thunder 114, Timberwolves 88
Biggest Takeaways for the Thunder: Oklahoma City`s defense was crucial early, compensating for slow starts from their main scorers. Despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams struggling initially (4-of-21 combined in the first half), the Thunder trailed by only four. They found their offensive stride in the third quarter, with Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams combining for 21 points to build a double-digit lead. Chet Holmgren contributed nine points in the fourth quarter to maintain the advantage. The top-ranked Thunder defense remained strong throughout, limiting Minnesota to just 34.9% shooting and forcing 19 turnovers, which OKC converted into 31 points.
Biggest Takeaways for the Timberwolves: Minnesota might have felt confident entering Game 1, especially controlling the first half and seeing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shoot poorly. However, despite their effective defense, their offense was highly ineffective. Aside from strong scoring from one player, the team shot just 20-for-70 (28.6%) for 60 points. After leading 48-44 at halftime and 60-56 in the third, they were overwhelmed by a 17-2 Thunder run. Bench scoring was particularly poor, with key reserves shooting a combined 7-for-36. Anthony Edwards finished with 18 points on 5-for-13 shooting after tweaking his ankle. The Wolves face significant challenges heading into Game 2, needing improvements to avoid an 0-2 deficit before returning home.
Game 2: Timberwolves at Thunder (Thursday)
What to Watch: A key question is whether Minnesota can improve its scoring in the paint. In Game 1, they managed only 20 paint points, their lowest total in these playoffs, a sharp contrast to their series average (51.6) and their previous game (72). Oklahoma City achieved this defensive success despite using smaller lineups, with their starting bigs playing less than eight minutes together and a smaller player often filling the backup center role. The Thunder focused on packing the paint and daring Minnesota to shoot threes. The Timberwolves started 5-of-11 from downtown in the first quarter but finished poorly, going 10-for-40 (25%) afterwards. Minnesota`s success scoring inside may paradoxically depend on hitting more outside shots to stretch the defense. The Timberwolves are a good three-point shooting team (35% in playoffs, 38% in regular season), so it remains to be seen if they can find the necessary accuracy to force the Thunder defense out of the paint in Game 2.
