Ranking OKC Thunder's 16 2025 NBA playoff wins en route to championship

It's the three-week anniversary of the Oklahoma City Thunder's first NBA championship. After a historically dominant regular season, the first-seed more or less translated to the playoffs — despite skeptics' concerns of their inexperience.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is still enjoying one of the greatest seasons ever. He collected about every individual award you can win in one season. He was named the MVP, Conference Finals MVP, NBA Finals MVP and the scoring champion.

Meanwhile, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren showed why they were good enough to be the second-best and third-best players on an NBA champion. The supporting case also showed out. Lu Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace each had their own moments in the playoff run.

As the 2025 NBA championship reaches a month old, let's rewind and rank all 16 of the Thunder's playoff wins. This will be a fun exercise:

16. Round 1, Game 2: Thunder 118, Grizzlies 99

This will sound cynical, but a 19-point loss was a step in the right direction for the Grizzlies. After a Game 1 humiliation, the Thunder had to earn a 2-0 series lead by pouring a little more sweat. Still, the talent gap was too much. It was another ho-hum home blowout win that OKC fans grew accustomed to.

Nothing crazy about this one. Just a classic beatdown where the sea-sized talent gap was apparent from the jump. The Grizzlies looked like a squad that barely survived the play-in tournament and whose head coach was in charge for only a couple of weeks.

15. Conference Finals, Game 2: Thunder 118, Timberwolves 103

This was when sweep conversations entered the chat. The Thunder destroyed the Timberwolves in two games. It's one thing to protect homecourt, it's another to look like you're leagues ahead of your competition. Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 38 points as Minnesota had no answer for the MVP.

While the Timberwolves have nice depth, their lack of star talent was exposed. Edwards was phased out. Nobody else could step up. Julius Randle turned back into a pumpkin. The Thunder became a defense machine that created a turnover on every other possession.

14. Round 1, Game 4: Thunder 117, Grizzlies 115

Sometimes, human nature can be your worst enemy. That was materialized as the Thunder sweated out a sweep. After Ja Morant was ruled out, this shouldn’t have been a close contest on paper. But credit the Grizzlies, they punched above their weight as Scotty Pippen Jr. stepped up with 30 points.

The Thunder looked like a squad that entered tipoff with the win already in hand. Little did they know the Grizzlies' role players would step up. They avoided a late collapse as Gilgeous-Alexander had 38 points to carry OKC to the finish line of another Round 1 sweep.

13. Conference Finals, Game 1: Thunder 114, Timberwolves 88

After a grueling seven-game series, this was quite the tonal shift. The Thunder looked like the veteran squad that earned battle scars by beating the best player in the world. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves looked like a team overmatched from the start and perhaps lucked their way to a Western Conference Finals trip.

Should've known how this series was going to play out after this. Anthony Edwards couldn't do much all of the series and the Thunder relied on their league-best defense to shut down his supporting cast. Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander started his journey to a WCF MVP with 31 points.

12. NBA Finals, Game 2: Thunder 123, Pacers 107

Let's rank the two aftermaths of game-winners the Thunder were on the wrong side of back-to-back. After they had control through the first 47 minutes, Tyrese Haliburton broke the hearts of millions when he sank a Game 1 game-winner in the final seconds. The Pacers only held the lead for 0.3 seconds this game, but it was the most important 0.3 seconds.

Just an all-time collapse by the Thunder. The reactions questioned what Daigneault did by changing the starting lineup with Wallace over Hartenstein. After what many expected to be an easy series for the Thunder, this Game 1 stunner showed that it would eventually go the full seven games.

11. Round 2, Game 2: Thunder 149, Nuggets 106

You got sucker punched for the first time. The Thunder suffered their first playoff loss when Aaron Gordon sank a Game 1 game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds. It left the OKC crowd stunned as the home squad just needed to hit its free throws to avoid this doomsday scenario. Just absolute highway robbery.

After a heartbreaker, the Thunder needed to respond. And boy, did they. They blew out the Nuggets in Game 2 at a historic level with a lead as high as 49 points. 49 points. This was an absolute demolition that OKC needed to tie the series at 1-1 and improve the vibes.

10. Round 1, Game 1: Thunder 131, Grizzlies 80

In hindsight, a historic 51-point win to open the playoffs should've been an obvious sign of what was about to happen two months later. The Thunder entered the postseason as the title favorite. They finished 68-14 with the best point differential ever. Seeing that translate over to the playoffs was quite the sight, though.

The Thunder made the Grizzlies look like your average March Madness 16th seed. They absolutely embarrassed them on the floor. A blowout is one thing, but this was on another level. The Grizzlies never really recovered as they went on to get swept.

9. Round 1, Game 3: Thunder 114, Grizzlies 108

Going back by 29 points, it looked like the Thunder were about to receive their first punch of the playoffs. They destroyed the Grizzlies at home to go up 2-0. But it was Memphis' turn to protect homecourt. Through the first half, it looked like the eighth seed was going to do that.

And then Morant's injury changed everything. Going for a poster, he landed hard after Dort contested the shot. He didn't play the rest of the playoff series. Likely in shock from what happened, the Thunder slowly chipped away and completed the historic 29-point comeback. That put a nail in the Grizzlies' hopes of an all-time upset.

8. Conference Finals, Game 4: Thunder 128, Timberwolves 126

This was the most entertaining game of the Western Conference Finals. After the Timberwolves won by a historic 42 points in Game 3, they could suddenly put all the pressure back on the Thunder after they went up 2-0 just to leave Minnesota tied at 2-2 apiece.

In a matchup with two deep squads, it was the Thunder's star power that overwhelmed the Timberwolves in the final moments of a back-and-forth contest. OKC's Big 3 headlined this gutsy road win. Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren combined for 95 points and essentially ended the series with a 3-1 lead heading back to OKC.

7. NBA Finals, Game 5: Thunder 120, Pacers 109

The Williams legacy game. Fresh off a season-saving Game 4 win, the Thunder couldn't rest on their laurels. They had to win Game 5, too. They couldn't afford to go back on the road facing elimination. When a series is tied at 2-2, Game 5 is usually the swing game.

And man, did Williams step up. He dropped 40 points in the best game of his career. Legacies were on the line. After he entered the playoffs with several questions about being a legitimate second-best player on a title contender, he shut them up with one of the greatest NBA Finals performances ever. The Gen Z Scottie Pippen comparisons were warranted.

6. Conference Finals, Game 5: Thunder 124, Timberwolves 94

The Western Conference Finals are usually drama-rich, must-see TV. After all, a trip to the NBA Finals is on the line. Instead, the Thunder made it look like a walk in the park. They gentlemen-swept a Timberwolves squad that was overmatched the moment this matchup was booked.

The Thunder stopped messing around and destroyed the Timberwolves. The result was known by halftime. This spot had less to do with the game and more about the accomplishment. It marked OKC's first NBA Finals trip since 2012. Except this iteration made it look easier.

5. Round 2, Game 4: Thunder 92, Nuggets 87

Uh oh. Everybody was writing the Thunder's eulogy during the third quarter. Despite holding the Nuggets to a ridiculously low eight points in the first quarter, they couldn't capitalize on their stops. The offense was equally bad. The fourth quarter saw both teams go back and forth.

Gilgeous-Alexander stepped up with 27 points. The Thunder won the ugly road contest to avoid a 3-1 deficit. And possibly another Round 2 exit. It wasn't the prettiest game, but that's irrelevant in the playoffs. The high stakes make the win celebratory enough. You never apologize for playoff wins.

4. NBA Finals, Game 4: Thunder 111, Pacers 104

This was a carbon copy of the game above. The Thunder faced the possibility of a 3-1 series deficit that could all but end their title hopes. Everybody in OKC entered the game with high stress levels, considering how pedestrian the title favorite looked on the road in the playoffs.

Through three quarters, it looked like the Thunder's worst nightmares manifested. They looked sluggish. The outside shooting woes finally caught up. They found themselves down double-digit points in the final moments of the third quarter. And then Gilgeous-Alexander turned into Superman. He gritted his teeth through 35 points and hit the biggest shot of his career with a baseline mid-range jumper to put OKC ahead.

3. Round 2, Game 5: Thunder 112, Nuggets 105

This was a nail-biter with everything on the line. It was a 2-2 series where the winner would be in the driver's seat the rest of the way. They entered the same scenario from last year's playoffs and came up short against the Mavericks. Let's just say lessons were learned in this playoff classic.

Williams' big-time 3-pointer was the highlight of this game — and arguably the playoff run. He put the Thunder up 106-103 with 1:40 left. He yelled at his injured wrist in celebration and as a diss to poor injury luck. Don't forget Nikola Jokic's circus turnaround 3-pointer that had everybody in the building's heart drop to their stomach. This game had everything.

2. Round 2, Game 7: Thunder 125, Nuggets 93

Of course, the top two spots are Game 7 wins. It doesn't get more nerve-wrecking than that. Your season is on the line. For the Thunder, they blew out a Nuggets squad that's widely considered to be the toughest opponent they faced in their title voyage.

Don't let the lopsided score make you forget the pregame nerves. The Thunder were at a fork in the road with the consequences faced from a possible second-straight Round 2 exit. An offseason filled with questions on whether they have the right roster to win a title was on the line. Gilgeous-Alexander stepped up with an efficient 35 points.

1. NBA Finals, Game 7: Thunder 103, Pacers 91

This was an easy choice that required less than a second of thought. The Thunder won their first championship in a decisive NBA Finals Game 7. It was the first time the championship series had gone the distance since 2016. Gilgeous-Alexander cemented his spot as one of the all-time greats with 29 points and 12 assists.

It wasn't the prettiest game and Haliburton's torn Achilles clouded over the Pacers, but a do-or-die championship game is about as high leverage as it can get. It makes any other Game 7 feel like an exhibition. The Thunder did enough to escape with a comfortable win and cap off one of the greatest seasons ever.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Ranking OKC Thunder's 16 2025 NBA playoff wins on way to championship