Thunder PUNCH THEIR TICKET 💥 SGA & OKC rout Ant-Man & Timberwolves to advance to NBA Finals | Get Up

Thunder PUNCH THEIR TICKET 💥 SGA & OKC rout Ant-Man & Timberwolves to advance to NBA Finals | Get Up

or maybe I should say the quarter of the night because that’s all that really mattered last night in OKC and the Thunder looking to put it away and Jay they would make quick and I mean quick work of the T- Wolves. I mean everybody talked about how Minnesota needed to come out and play defense and once again it was the calling card for OKC forcing 21 turnovers in this game. This game was over in the first five minutes. It literally was. Sometimes we use that as an expression. In this case it was reality. SGA scored or assisted 24 of OKC’s 26 first quarter points. The Timberwolves had nine. That’s right. Nine. Nine and a quarter. Greeny. That’s crazy. In the first quarter with their season on the line. That’s not much of a fight. Meanwhile, SGA Michael had 34 points on 25 shots. If he’d scored five points last night, they still would have won that game. True. And Lee, as we used to say, Green, look at him probing. That would give them a 30point lead in the third quarter. We’re still in the third. SGA its defense, their defense is just so good. SGA would finish with 34,7 rebounds, eight assists. Chad Hongren added 22. SGA is the West Conference final MVP as OKC wins going away. And so Shay Gildas Alexander scoring 30 or more in all three series clinching wins for the Thunder this postseason. He would set the NBA record if he were to do it again in the finals. Look at the company he already keeps. Doing it three times in the same postseason. Names like LeBron and Steph and Kobe and Bird and Mike. Literal royalty in the history of the game. And afterwards, the MVP showed gratitude to all those around him. I want to thank my teammates. Without them, I’m nothing. Clear as day. I don’t have 124 points by myself. I love these guys to death. Now, with all that being said, this is a step in the right direction, but we have a lot more work to do, and we know that, and that’s what we’re focused on. So, let’s buckle up and get ready. And so, the Thunder for the first time since 2012 when they had a very different, very young Big Three that we thought was going to be around for a really long time, are headed to the NBA finals. Monica Jay, and we begin with the Hall of Famer. Michael, what do we say on this morning as the Thunder Punch a very convincing ticket to the final? They now know what they can do. They know their potential. I’m not going to say full potential because it’s going to move. It’s going to evolve and change, but they know now. This is like watching a great team and all of a sudden they’re playing their way and they wake up one morning and go, “Are you serious?” Like, we we have this in us. You could see it going back to the Warriors back to when they lost to game seven to the Clippers in like 2014 and then that 15 season where it just all started to click and it’s like, “Oh my goodness, they’re going to be unstoppable.” Oklahoma City now realizes that. And by the way, they didn’t know that against Denver. They still had to prove it to themselves, much less an opponent in the league. But now they’ve done it. And I don’t know that Indiana or the Knicks can offer much resistance. I look, I still think this OKC team is underhyped, but there is definitely a Spurslike dynasty feel to them. No drama, no flash, no superstar celebrity energy, just inevitability. and the core of SGA, Chat, and Jaylen Williams is more complimentary than the KD, Russ Harden era ever was. And that’s no shock to them. It it’s just a reflection based upon the trust, the balance, and the culture that is established. This just feels like it’s a system built to last for a long time throughout the season. Monica, as I turn to you, let me just put up A19 to give everyone a sense of just how young this Oklahoma City team actually is. Average age 25.6 years old. Waited by playing time. They’re the youngest team to reach the finals. Michael, you’ll appreciate this. Since the Bill Wall Trailblazers in 1977. How long it has been. They’re incredibly young. How about this OKC team? I think too, and watching their responses on the podium with Lisa Salters, all of them, Coach Dagnal as well, the moment where you see them all sort of get emotional, right? Like, and they they’re they’re sort of fighting back. I wouldn’t say full-on tears, but you can tell that the the weight, the gravity of what they’ve achieved and SGA talked about it. I had a game earlier this season. The Thunder were in Milwaukee. It was a regular season game, Greeny. But we’re talking to coach Dagnol and he’s like, you know, I love where this team is and the potential that they have, but these guys don’t get enough credit for their buyin when you couldn’t see the promise necessarily as closely as you can this season. So you talk about culture setters in SGA, the addition of Jaylen Williams, how well Chad Homegrren has fit, but even coach Dagnon talked about a guy like Lou Dort who completely bought into his role on this particular team. So there is so much I guess joy and selflessness about this group. It’s really but see that that selflessness to me and this stands out and J will you hit on this there’s no thought argument drama about whose team it is because it’s very clear who that happened in Oklahoma City. Let’s be honest about it. Okay, that’s not happening here. Do you see how they look at SGAA? The reverence they have for him that doesn’t seem to me to be something that will be threatened to Jay Will’s point in the next few years. They have an order and they’re fine with it and he reciprocates it. You heard him. Without my guys, I’m nothing. That’s exactly what you want. You asked the question, what does Vegas expect in the next round? Cindy, let’s show them. May 17. And and for those of you who don’t speak gambling, this is a remarkable number. The Thunder are in minus 600 favorites to win the championship right now at ESPN Bed Sportsbook. The Pacers, you see the numbers are plus 525. The Knicks, if you think they can rally, you get almost three almost 30 to1 on them right now. Mike, to his credit, think about what Sam Prey went through with that team, with Katie, with Russ, with James, watching that implode in real time. The fact that, you know, he’s been a GM since 2007. And there was a clip a couple years ago where LeBron was like, “Yo, he’s he’s the one in the game. He’s stockpiling draft picks and he builds the right culture and look how it’s paying dividends right now.” Somebody asked me, I think I was on radio in Chicago. Yeah. With Wild and Sylvie Greeny. And it was a great question. You can pick any player you want from this year’s draft, including one. You can pick Cooper Flack or any player or you can have Sam Prey. Who do you want? takes me no time to answer Sam Prey. And I know that’s that’s dangerous because you remember the old argument which caused massive drama in Chicago when Jerry Krauss once said organizations organizations win, players win. But to get the right players, I want that person because he has now done it twice in a place where he’s not going to get free agents, where it’s got to be done through the draft and trading. So I want to play you on the other side. So OKC is going to the finals. They’re unbelievable. They are their numbers now this season are ridiculous. I think I read this morning that their record on the season now they’re like 80 and 18 or something like that. I’ll get that confirmed. But one way or another, the other side of this Anthony Edwards after the game last night, back-to-back tough games for Ant-Man with his season on the line and afterwards his reaction was this. It’s exciting. Um I don’t know I don’t know why people would think it would hurt. I mean, it’s exciting for me. I’m 23. I get to do it a whole bunch of times. I’m hurt more so for myself, for Mike. I came up short for Mike. Um, like I said, we tried last year, we couldn’t get it. We tried again this year. Um, I’m going to try again next year. But hurting is a terrible word to use. I’m I’m good. Yeah. The mic he’s talking about is Mike Connley, who’s sitting right there. Looks devastated because he’s coming close to the end of his career. He was. And there’s Ant-Man. There’s a lot of reaction to that response. What did you think of it? Antman’s 23. I don’t overreact too much to what players say, particularly after a was a devastating loss. We know Ant-Man well enough now to know he doesn’t want to appear. He’s too cool to be showing hurt. And if that’s his reaction to it, Monica, it I’m you know what, I’m okay with it. Look, I’ve been around the greatest players in the last 40 years and they did show hurt. I’ve been around Magic after he lost. I’ve been around Michael after he lost. been around watching Larry Bird after he lost some of those playoff games and they did show the hurt, but not everybody does. There have been other players who didn’t show it as much, who didn’t want to reveal of themselves in the moment. Didn’t mean they don’t hurt. It’s like the other day aunt said, um, I didn’t struggle. Yeah, you did struggle. You were made to struggle. So, I don’t need to I don’t care what he says. I’m more concerned with what he does now in this off season moving forward to avoid that again. Th this sound is far more alarming if he does not acknowledge his teammates. But he is right in that he’s got lots of runway ahead of him. I do also think that if you want to get picky in terms of words, there is a lot to revel in and learn from in this experience. So whether he’s hurt or not or excited about the opportunity to come back and be better and to prove that he’s who we all think he has the potential to be, like if you want to play that game, I mean, I’m not tripping off the sound either. Well, that’s why I I think a couple days ago when I said I think the coronation was premature, a lot of people started to run with that, right? But that wasn’t a shot. It was just about what Mike and I talked about there. There’s steps in the process. And I think this is one of those steps and how he answers certain questions and that comes through with experience and maturity. Can I tell you something else come through with experience and maturity? I think Anthony Edwards overexerts too much energy on offense. Now, people are going to say that’s crazy, but when you’re when you’re facing up and you’re trying to beat people off the dribble and OKC is playing gaps and they’re having two sevenfooters in there, you’re trying to finish over, his game is going to go to the next level. If he starts digging into tape of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant and Dwight, that is the missing link to his game. And when his game goes there, then he becomes that Michael Jordan, that Kobe Bryant type of player. Listen, he’s Look, I I fine with that. I guess to some degree, I don’t care what he says afterwards either. But let’s face it, his team went out with no fight last night. Literally none. Season on the line. This is a team that’s it’s not they’re not that young. They’re not the Thunder. This is their second consecutive year in this spot. This was a series that they went into thinking they could win. They put up zero fight last night. They did. You’re right. They were overwhelmed. 100%. This is like watching Michael Spinx walk in the ring against Mike Tyson. So, this team is overwhelmed. You’re saying this OKC team is We’re starting to see now they they’re they know they’re that good that you showed this yesterday when when when you have to twist and turn and have multiple screens set for you just to get to midcourt if you’re Ant-Man. They’re passing him from one alldefensive player to another to another to Quesan Wallace who will be and you got four alldefensive guys worthy of that anyway. And you and Ant-Man’s got to go through that just to get a shot off with 6 seconds left on the shot clock. He’s he’s relieved to get a shot off. They were overwhelmed. Mike, do you know how hard it is in an NBA game? And think about when you see this. How many times do you see somebody picking up somebody else full court and make them turn three or four times? Lou Dort was on him full court. Turn them three times. Like that’s the key to Indiana. That’s the key to Indiana. Tyres Hallebert. Lou Dort wears the number five. He should put a seven after it. That guy’s a linebacker. He should wear number. By the way, he picked it. The score was like it was seven to three. Exactly. It was the gate. You’re picking him up. So you know you’re going to drive him out of his mind. And they did. Uh the Thunder getting the credit. They deserve. We tried to tell y’all all season. Greedy. Well, look, Denver took them to seven tough games.

The Get Up crew reacts to the Oklahoma City Thunder advancing to the 2025 NBA Finals following a Game 5 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Eastern Conference Finals.

0:00 Game 5 recap
2:16 OKC advances
5:28 Updated NBA title odds
7:16 Anthony Edwards postgame

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