OKC Thunder Monthly Recap: May 2025

The Oklahoma City Thunder entered May in the middle of an eight-day rest, as it completed a first-round sweep over the No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies on April 26. Oklahoma City battled through seven grueling games against the No. 4 Denver Nuggets in the following round and took down the No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves in a five-game Western Conference Finals, completing the month on a significant high note.

The Thunder stormed through the West for the first time since its 2011-12 campaign. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander secured the Magic Johnson trophy as the WCF's Most Valuable Player on May 28. He won the Michael Jordan trophy as the regular season's Most Valuable Player on May 21.

Oklahoma City went 8-4 with a +95 point differential across the second round and conference finals. The No. 1 seed earned five double-digit wins and suffered two double-digit losses, including a 42-point Game 3 loss to the Timberwolves — by far its largest of the season. The No. 4 Indiana Pacers, representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, accumulated a +28 point differential (No. 2 in NBA) during May.

The Thunder recorded the No. 2 offensive rating (115.4) and No. 1 defensive rating (107.1) among all 11 teams that played at least one May game. It has secured an NBA-record four 30-point wins in one playoff run.

Player of the Month: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.4 points on 49.6% shooting, 7.3 assists, 5.9 rebounds (1.3 offensive) and 1.7 steals in 12 May appearances, proving his excellent regular-season play translates well to the playoffs. The Thunder won his 444 minutes by 112 points and lost the 137 minutes without him by 17 points. Gilgeous-Alexander set the NBA record for highest playoff plus-minus (+51) in Game 2 against the Nuggets on May 7. He self-created 88.9% of his 83 made field goals — including all 43 on the road.

Play of the Month: Cason Wallace Dunks on Nikola Jokic in Early Offense

Cason Wallace put together an impactful May, averaging 5.8 points on 40.6% shooting, 2.8 rebounds (1.2 offensive), 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals with the Thunder's second-highest total plus-minus (+92). In a literal must-win Game 7 against the Nuggets on May 18, the 21-year-old took a quick Jalen Williams pass to the basket for an emphatic off-hand finish over three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic. The slam forced a Denver timeout and became an early exclamation point for Oklahoma City, which eventually won by 32 points.