The Minnesota Timberwolves did not have the ideal finish to their season on Wednesday. In Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder finished the job with a 124-94 victory against Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves to advance to the NBA Finals. From the jump, Minnesota didn’t have a chance as the Thunder had a dominating first quarter.
Edwards and his team only scored nine points in the first quarter. Minnesota struggled to make shots and only made three field goals out of 20 shots. In the nine points they had in the opening quarter, the All-Star guard was responsible for six and Julius Randle had three.
Overall, Edwards finished the game with 19 points on 38.9 percent shooting from the field. The 6-foot-4 guard also had a 1-for-7 performance from beyond the arc. Randle had a team-high 24 points on 66.7 percent shooting from deep.
Edwards’ Game 5 outing was the second time in a row during the series that he scored less than 20 points. Overall, he had three games where he didn’t reach the 20-point mark. In Game 4, he had 16 points on 38.5 percent shooting. In Game 1, the three-time All-Star only had 18 points.
After the game, Edwards addressed his performance in front of the media. Getting ready for the postseason, the former Georgia star promised to work on improving his game over the summer.
“I’mma work my butt off this summer. Nobody’s going to work harder than me this summer, I’ll tell you that much,” Edwards said.
Ant is already thinking about his comeback 😤
"Nobody's going to work harder than me this summer." pic.twitter.com/tZUsQV1zNL
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 29, 2025
This is the second year in a row that the Minnesota Timberwolves have fallen short in the conference finals.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star is more hurt by not winning for his veteran teammate
Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves had a chance to be in the Finals for the first time in franchise history. However, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks outplayed them and were the team that faced the Boston Celtics.
This year, they had another chance when they advanced to the third round. Unfortunately for the Wolves, the Thunder was too much for them and they were eliminated in five games.
During his postgame press conference, Edwards was asked if he’s hurt about the outcome of this year’s series. He said that he isn’t hurt for himself. Rather, he’s more disappointed in falling short for his veteran teammate, Mike Conley.
“It’s exciting for me, I’m 23. I did it a bunch of times,” Edwards said. “I’m hurt for Mike [Conley]. I came up short for Mike. We tried last year, we couldn’t get it. We tried again this year. We’ll try again next year.”
"It's exciting for me, I'm 23. … I'm hurt more so … for Mike [Conley]."
Ant on if it hurt to come up short of the Finals two years in a row. pic.twitter.com/nHaqfRnPEQ
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 29, 2025
Conley has been in the league for 18 seasons and the past two years with the Wolves were among the best chances for him to win a ring.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
