The Oklahoma City Thunder secured a dominant Game 5 win on Wednesday, eliminating the Minnesota Timberwolves from the Western Conference Finals. For the second consecutive season, Anthony Edwards and his teammates saw their championship hopes come to an abrupt end at this stage.
Despite the disappointment, Edwards remained defiant and determined in the face of defeat. During the postgame press conference, Edwards made it clear that the loss only fueled his drive to improve.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m gonna work my butt off this summer. Nobody’s gonna work harder than me this summer, I’ll tell you that much. So yeah, I’ll try to make it happen again,” he said.
"Nobody's gonna work harder than me this summer. I'll try to make it happen again for Mike."
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 29, 2025
Ant says he wants to get back to competing for an NBA championship for 37-year-old teammate Mike Conley 🙏 pic.twitter.com/F2bfyAbABD
While Edwards seemed optimistic about his own future, the defeat weighed more heavily on him because of Mike Conley. Rather than dwelling on personal frustration, he expressed his sorrow for not delivering for Conley.
“It’s exciting for me; I’m 23. I did it a bunch of times. I’m hurt for Mike. I came up short for Mike. We tried last year; we couldn’t get it. We tried again this year. We’ll try again next year,” Edwards said.
The Timberwolves’ performance in the elimination game lacked urgency. Edwards managed just 19 points, along with six rebounds and two assists, while shooting 7-of-18 from the field in 38 minutes of action. His struggles were particularly evident in the first half, where he tallied only 9 points on 3-of-10 shooting, including 0-of-5 from beyond the arc.
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Anthony Edwards Had A Unique Way To Describe Thunder’s Chemistry
In the postgame reflections, Conley pointed to the Thunder’s complete buy-in to head coach Mark Daigneault’s system while stating that OKC simply executed better on every front. Meanwhile, Edwards had his own unique way of praising the Thunder’s on-court chemistry.
“15 puppet in one string,” Edwards said.
With the loss, the Timberwolves begin their offseason. Meanwhile, the Thunder now turn their focus to the NBA Finals, where they will face the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.
