BBNBA: SGA drops 40 as OKC takes commanding 3-1 lead in Western Conference Finals

Considering the circumstances, Kentucky’s first-ever NBA MVP likely played the best basketball game of his entire life up to this point on Monday night.

Coming off a historic 42-point blowout to the (6) Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 over the weekend, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the (1) Oklahoma City Thunder led Game 4 for nearly the entire 48 minutes to lock up a tight 128-126 road win. And what did SGA do less than a week removed from winning the league’s most prestigious individual award to make it happen? Casually drop a playoff career-high 40 points to go along with 10 assists and nine rebounds in 40 minutes. The former Wildcat shot 13-30 from the field and 12-14 from the free throw line, knocking down several key freebies in the closing minute to ice the Thunder win and bring his team just one victory away from reaching the NBA Finals.

OKC was in control of this game from the jump. Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams (34 points on 13-24 shooting) could not be stopped, particularly in the first half. Chet Holmgren came up big for OKC, on both ends of the floor, in the fourth quarter. Cason Wallace didn’t have his best offensive performance (seven points on 3-9 shooting), but he made up for it by doing a little bit of everything else. Wallace added three rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block in 28 minutes.

If we were to sum this game up in one sentence, it’d be a short one: OKC wanted the win more than Minnesota. Actually, we can lengthen it a bit: OKC wanted the win more than Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle did. Edwards, who finished with 16 points, had just one shot attempt by halftime and turned the ball over five times. Randle was even worse, going for just five points and seven rebounds on 1-7 shooting. He also turned the ball over five times. As a team, Minnesota was forced into 21 miscues.

After a pair of great series to begin these playoffs, Randle has failed to perform in two of four contests (Games 2 and 4) in the WCF, both of which resulted in losses for his squad. We can chalk it up to great defense from OKC, but Edwards and Randle were simply not aggressive enough in Game 4. The supporting cast did well, but the stars did not show up. And because of that, Minnesota’s season is on the brink of coming to an end.

Game 5 shifts back to Oklahoma City, where the Thunder will look to polish off Minnesota for good. Tipoff is scheduled for Wednesday, May 28, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

5/26/25 Statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	+/-	MIN
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	128-126 W @ MIN	40	13-30 (2-7)	9	10	1	0	5	5	40
Cason Wallace (OKC)	128-126 W @ MIN	7	3-9 (1-5)	3	3	2	1	0	0	28
Julius Randle (MIN)	128-126 L vs. OKC	5	1-7 (0-3)	7	3	1	0	5	-2	28

Tonight in the NBA Playoffs

Eastern Conference Finals | Game 4 | IND leads 2-1
8:00 (TNT) | (3) Knicks (Towns) @ (4) Pacers (Jackson: out)