SANTA CLARA, Calif.- A pair of former Santa Clara men's basketball stars saw their 2025 NBA seasons continue onto the conference finals. Jalen Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunder won a back-and-forth seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets to advance to the Western Conference Finals while the Indiana Pacers, with former Bronco Guard Lloyd Pierce helping to lead the way, easily took down the Cleveland Cavaliers, 4-1, to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Brandin Podziemski and Golden State were not as fortunate as the Warriors fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-110 in game five, ending their season.
Williams scored 24 points on Sunday, adding five rebounds and seven assists, helping the Thunder advance to the Western Conference Finals with a 125-93 victory over the Nuggets. The series went back-and-forth with the Thunder taking games two, four, five, and a winner-take-all showdown Sunday in game seven. The three-year Bronco star was instrumental to the Thunder's postseason success, shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 25.4 percent from three. He is second on the team, averaging 19.6 ppg, 5.7 apg, and 1.5 spg, and 35.0 mpg throughout the playoffs, including scoring in double-figures in all but one game this postseason.
Pierce helped lead the Pacers to a 4-1 series victory over the No. 1 seeded Cavaliers last Tuesday with a 114-105 series-clinching victory. A four-year star for Santa Clara from 1993-96, Pierce is the Pacers' head assistant coach - a role he has held since 2021 after a four-year stint as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks.
Williams will open the 2025 NBA Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. PT on ESPN. Pierce will lead the Pacers on Wednesday night in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks at 5:00 p.m. PT on TNT/Max. Both former Broncos are searching for their first trip to the NBA finals in their respective careers.
Golden State won the first game of their series against the Timberwolves, but lost the next four with NBA All-Star guard Stephen Curry on the bench due to a hamstring injury. Podziemski led the team with 28 points in their final game on Wednesday, but it wasn't enough to extend the Warriors' season. The Wisconsin native was fifth on the team with 11.3 ppg, including six double-figure scoring outings in the postseason. He also tied for second with 1.3 steals and was fourth on the Warriors in rebounding (5.0), assists (3.1) and minutes (32.1) throughout the playoffs.
