When Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti said that he wanted an arrival and not just an appearance, many fans did not take it seriously. But after a short rebuild and a sudden playoff contention, the Thunder now finds itself back on the big stage of the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up an MVP performance of 34 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and two steals. Chet Holmgren had 22 points, and Jalen Williams finished with 19. Everything fell in favor of the Thunder, and they made it look easy as fans at the Paycom Center roared out loud as the game went down to the final minute with the Thunder up by as many as 39 points.

Oklahoma City would not be denied this time. On the same day that the Thunder felt that legendary Game 6 from Klay Thompson in the 2016 Western Conference Finals, today’s OKC squad toppled that history with a positive one – a demolition of the Minnesota Timberwolves as the latter could not answer any of the avalanches that the Thunder have thrown at them.

A Win Right From the Start

Minnesota started with a 3-0 lead in the game coming off a Julius Randle three, but then the Thunder turned on its engines and activated what they do best – the pesky defense that launched a tidal wave of runs for OKC, capped off by a buzzer-beating three by Cason Wallace to make it a 26-9 start in the first quarter.

By halftime, Minnesota had more turnovers than field goals made, and that just says a lot about how dominant the OKC defense has been this season and in the playoffs. Disrupting the passing lanes, rotating well on defense and putting the pressure on the Timberwolves on any part of the floor, it was just their big game.

“We just struggled to find a rhythm," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. "Everyone was kind of trying to do it all by themselves. We lost our connectivity. But all credit to the Thunder. They certainly deserve this. They played outstanding. And we came up short in a lot of ways.”

It can be remembered that OKC reeled from losing Kevin Durant back in 2016 when he signed with the Golden State Warriors. The next few years were uneasy, but OKC managed to rebuild swiftly. However, all of those were put in the back as they rallied to beat Minnesota to clinch their first Finals appearance since 2012, even after coming short in their 2016 run.

The Timberwolves tried to generate some runs. But a Holmgren block on Randle leading to a dagger three by Luguentz Dort forced Finch to call timeout and wave the white flag as OKC went up 106-72 with 6:34 left to play.

“Welcome Home, Chet”

Back in February, Anthony Edwards dunked over Chet Holmgren in an Oklahoma City loss. That video was later posted by Minnesota, with Edwards saying “Shout out to Chet. Welcome home, baby.”

Holmgren finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks on 61.5% shooting. He drilled a total of two threes and was all over the floor in the win for the Thunder. Edwards, on the other hand, struggled to score early and ended up with 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting and went 1-of-7 from three.

The Thunder later posted the same video of Edwards on his social media account, even quoting Edwards on welcoming him home to his native state of Minnesota.

Eventually, Holmgren had the last laugh.