The Minnesota Timberwolves achieved a landmark victory on Monday night in taking down the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road. The best team in basketball held a double digit lead over the Wolves inside the final four minutes of play, but Minnesota put together a rally for the ages that ended in their second win over Oklahoma City in four tries this season.
Anthony Edwards' block on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sealed the win for the road squad, and he let everyone know about it. No team in NBA history had ever emerged victorious after being behind at least 20 on the road against an opponent with a .800+ winning percentage, until now. A win like this for the Timberwolves has the potential to be season-defining, and the players knew it. They celebrated accordingly, by poking some fun at their Western Conference rivals.
As any well-versed NBA fan is aware, Oklahoma City has a special tradition that has been introduced over the last few seasons. In what is likely an effort to grow their team culture and overall togetherness, Thunder players will gather around the singular teammate being interviewed by the sideline reporter after the game. In what is traditionally conducted as a one-on-one interview, it becomes something of a "team interview." The Timberwolves opted to copy this concept on Monday.
LMAOOO bringing out the group interview when you beat OKC pic.twitter.com/NTf8i4bmnD
— Barflaan Tedoe 🇱🇷 (@The_Barftender) February 25, 2025
Minnesota copied OKC's "group interview" after their win
As Lea Olsen prepared to do her postgame interview, she was greeted by not one but three players as Anthony Edwards, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jaden McDaniels all gathered around. This is clearly not a regular thing for the Timberwolves and was an obvious jab at Oklahoma City after winning in their building.
This is just the kind of innocuous pettiness that makes rivalry games between top teams so much fun. These were two of the best three teams in the West last season, and now the Timberwolves and Thunder are closely matched once again. The draw of stars like Edwards and Gilgeous-Alexander is obvious, and playing up the rivalry with little moments like this is just what the NBA needs right now.
It is safe to say that plenty of Wolves fans are hoping these two teams meet in the playoffs. The competitive fire is clearly there among the players, and Minnesota knows they have what it takes to beat OKC. Things like this only serve to deepen the healthy animosity between two of the best teams in the West.