Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams gets fined for wearing a profanity-laden shirt at the postgame press conference after Sunday's win vs Nuggets

It was a slug fest, a messy, muddy, grind-it-out series. Eventually, the Oklahoma City Thunder survived the Denver Nuggets in a best-of-7 set that went the dist

The Oklahoma City Thunder have quickly risen from a rebuild to the title favorite in Daigneault's five years. Dave Bliss has been by his side throughout the journey. He's been an OKC assistant since 2019. He has experience at other NBA stops and the college level.

Hace dos años, el Thunder de Oklahoma City y los Timberwolves de Minnesota se enfrentaron en el torneo de play-in para determinar quién

Minnesota won that play-in game in 2023, but that was in Minneapolis. Oklahoma City has homecourt in this series and will host Game 1 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday.

In the first round, the Thunder opened with a 51-point win over the Grizzlies, but dropped Game 1 to Denver after fading late. Minnesota had a six-day layoff before each of its first two series, winning Game 1 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers and dropping Game 1 to Golden State. The Timberwolves won each series in five games.

Caruso stepped up in the Thunder's 125-93 Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets. He finished with 11 points and three steals, but his one-on-one defense against Nikola Jokic swung the game to the home squad's favor.

They will now face the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that dismissed the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the first round, in the Western Conference Finals. One key factor in Oklahoma City's triumph over the Nuggets was guard Alex Caruso.