The Oklahoma City Thunder were the NBA’s best team in the regular season, compiling a franchise-record 68 wins en route to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves took a while to adjust to a stunning pre-training camp trade of Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks, but have found their footing in the 2025 NBA playoffs, beating each the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in five games.
The two teams meet in the Western Conference finals with the Thunder as huge -350 favorites at BetMGM, the first time in the Thunder era they have been favored in a conference finals in their fifth trip. It’s also the biggest favorite the combined Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder franchise has been in a conference finals since the Sonics started playing in 1967, according to Sports Odds History’s database.
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It’s third time the Wolves have reached the conference finals in franchise history and the second straight season they’ve reached this round. Minnesota lost to the Dallas Mavericks in five games last season in the conference finals.
Yahoo Sports asked handicapper Michael Fiddle for his thoughts on the Thunder-Wolves series and his best bets:
No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder (-350) vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves (+280)
Fiddle: “I like the Thunder to win the series, but I think the best bet is to play the NBA Finals future because both teams have matchup advantages versus Eastern Conference opponents. One of my favorite bets available right now is Thunder to win title -160 or better, and a big reason for that is understanding patterns in the market. We have seen a little bit of a downgrade in the Oklahoma City power rating after going seven games with the Nuggets, but Denver covered four games in the series. I disagree with [the move]. There has also been consistent late action on Oklahoma City, bringing the spread out further. When they were -4.5 on the road in Game 6, it went to -5.5 right before tip. The late movers have come in on the Thunder, so I want to get in early.
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“I’m comfortable with the Thunder -7.5 in Game 1. I think it closes -8.5. I think the biggest matchup angle is if Chet Holmgren plays equal or better than Julius Randle, then I’m not sure how the Wolves have a chance. If Chet plays a little better, this should be a resounding Thunder win. I think Lou Dort will start on Anthony Edwards, with Lou Dort and Alex Caruso mixed, but the amount of different looks and concepts to throw at Ant because of how versatile the Thunder are is a different level of beast than the Warriors and Lakers. This is a colossal upgrade in the defense he’ll face, and I don’t think that the lack of rest hurts the Thunder much.”
Best bets: Thunder to win NBA Finals at -160 or better; Thunder -7.5 in Game 1
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