Basketball

Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14, first in the Western Conference) Oklahoma City; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Thunder -7.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Minnesota hadn't played in nearly a week and Oklahoma City had just played in a Game 7 two days earlier.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half, and the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-88 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton, Ont.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rhyne Howard made a go-ahead free throw with 9.1 seconds left, and the Atlanta Dream withstood a thrilling fourth-quarter rally led by Caitlin Clark to beat the Indiana Fever 91-90 on Tuesday night.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephon Castle gets one more accolade from his rookie season: The San Antonio guard was the only unanimous first-team selection on the All-Rookie team.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Jalen Brunson held a steel chair. Tyrese Haliburton had brass knuckles.

NEW YORK (AP) — Preview capsule on the Indiana-New York Eastern Conference finals series that starts Wednesday: No. 4 Indiana Pacers (50-32, 8-2) vs. No. 3 New York Knicks (51-31, 8-4) Season series: Knicks, 2-1.

It was a busy opening weekend for the WNBA with record breaking performances and ratings as the league's stars shined. The game between Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever and Angel Reese's Chicago Sky drew an average of 2.

If the NBA playoffs were like the NCAA tournament, chances are your brackets would be busted by now. And that's because these conference final matchups — at least by seeding — weren't very predictable.