OKC, Minnesota unahan sa 1-0 lead

OKLAHOMA CITY — Kaagad sisimulan ng Thunder ang kanilang duwelo ng Minnesota Timberwolves para sa Western Confe­rence championship series.

Kagagaling lamang ng Oklahoma City sa 125-93 pagpapatalsik sa Denver Nuggets sa Game 7 ng kanilang semifinals showdown kamakalawa.

Isinara ng Thunder sa 4-3 ang kanilang serye ng Nuggets, habang kaagad sinibak ng Timberwolves ang Golden State Warriors, 4-1, sa kanilang bakbakan sa semis.

Parehong may 2-2 record ang OKC at Minnesota sa kanilang four-game season series.

“Apples to apples, I don’t know if those games are the perfect framework through which to look at the series,” ani Thunder coach Mark Daigneault sa Timberwolves. “It’ll be diffe­rent.”

Sina Shai Gilgeous-A­lexander at Jalen Williams ang inaasahang mangu­nguna sa Oklahoma City  habang muling ibabandera ng Minnesota sina Anthony Edwards at Julius Randle.

Bumanat si Gilgeous-Alexander ng mga ave­rages na 29.0 points, 6.4 assists, at 5.9 rebounds sa postseason at humataw si Edwards ng 26.5 points, 8.0 rebounds at 5.9 assists per game averages.

Inaasahan ding makakatapat ni Gilgeous-Ale­xander, ang namumuno para sa Most Valuable Player honors, ang kanyang pinsan na si Nickeil Alexander-Walker ng Timberwolves.

“It’ll be very fun,” ani Gilgeous-Alexander. “It’s hard to even explain. If you know how close we are, he’s literally like my second brother.”