Thunder start series with Wolves in quick turnaround
Oklahoma City had plenty of time off ahead of its first two playoff series. Now, in the Western Conference finals against Minnesota, it will be the Thunder who come into the series on short rest when the series begins on Tuesday at home.
The Thunder are coming off a 125-93 win over Denver on Sunday in Game 7 of their second-round series, while the Timberwolves haven’t played in six days after closing out the Golden State Warriors in five games.
Oklahoma City had one week between games before its first-round series against Memphis and then nine days between games before the series against the Nuggets.
This series will also feature two of the league’s top young stars in Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards.
Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 29 points, 6.4 assists and 5.9 rebounds this postseason, while Edwards is averaging 26.5 points, eight rebounds and 5.9 assists.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the front-runner for MVP honors, is looking forward to the matchup against cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Minnesota.
The two players were born less than two months apart in Toronto, and both attended Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
“It’ll be very fun,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s hard to even explain. If you know how close we are, he’s literally like my second brother. He’s been through every stage of life with me—picking up a basketball to going to prep school to making the NBA, we’ve gone through every situation together. For both of us to be where we are is special, to compete against each other is even more special.
“But I am trying to take his head off for sure.”
In a 2023 play-in game, Alexander-Walker helped hold his cousin to a 5-of-19 shooting night.
Alexander-Walker said Gilgeous-Alexander’s consistency has lifted him to a different echelon.
“That comes from diligence, hard work, seeing it first hand and discipline that truthfully I haven’t seen in anybody else,” Alexander-Walker said. “I have not seen discipline like his. So I think that’s the main reason why people think he’s made a jump when really he’s just been able to be consistently that, because he’s been so disciplined in his approach.”
