By Nick Gallo | Broadcast Reporter and Digital Editor | okcthunder.com
No. 1 Seed, Playoff Prep, Blue Champs
OKC Clinches First Place in the West, Works on What’s Ahead and Celebrates the OKC Blue
The Drive and Dish is here to answer the questions that might be going through your head during a Thunder game by providing experienced insight, highlighting aspects of the game you might have missed and pulling you behind the curtain with anecdotes, analysis, and stats.
Here’s what you need to know as the Thunder prepares for its Round One playoff series against either the New Orleans Pelicans or the Sacramento Kings, with Game 1 coming on Sunday.
Clinching the No. 1 Seed
In a deadlock with division rivals in the defending champion Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves for nearly the entire season, the race for the top spot in the Western Conference came down to the final weekend of the year. For the Thunder, it’s playoff positioning was never a motivating factor or a concern heading into games – it was the game-by-game attention to detail and commitment to core team fundamentals that helped the Thunder keep its head down and stay focused on the task at hand.
The results once the dust settled were staggering. The Thunder clinched the top spot in the West for the second time in team history, snagging the sixth Northwest Division title in Oklahoma City in 16 seasons. What makes the Thunder’s 57-25 season even more remarkable is that this is now the youngest team ever in NBA history to hit the 57-win mark as well as the youngest to clinch a No. 1 seed in either conference.
Built by General Manager Sam Presti, this team has made an unprecedented re-positioning and after just two years of missing postseason basketball is back in a prime position. On Monday the NBA Coaches Association named the man Presti hand-picked, Mark Daigneault, it’s Coach of the Year.
One of the team’s key leaders all season has of course been Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who in Sunday afternoon’s 135-86 victory over the Dallas Mavericks clinched a 30.1 point per game scoring average, becoming the first Thunder player ever to average 30 points per game in back- to-back seasons. It wasn’t just Shai who packed a punch in Game 82 this season. It was the first game in Thunder history where 15 different players scored in the same game.
Preparing for What They’ll See
Once the playoffs come, teams will go to even more extremes to game plan against the Thunder than they showed in the regular season. Fortunately, Daigneault has been preparing the team for as many foreseeable quandaries they might encounter throughout the year and the group has worked on executing them.
Against Milwaukee in Game 81, two Thunder rookies who both managed to play all 82 games demonstrated their commitment to the lesson plans from throughout the year. When the Bucks threw a zone at OKC, one similar to the schemes they’ll face in the postseason, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace both filled their lanes in the 5-man offense to perfection. Holmgren settled into position around the right elbow, while Wallace slid his feet to get deeper into the right corner. The pass went into Chet from up top, the defense collapsed to pressure the Thunder 7-footer and he immediately knew where to zip the ball – to his re-locating classmate who knocked down the wide-open corner 3.
Another opportunity the Thunder had in that Milwaukee game was executing a short clock situation, which the team did to near perfection. With just 3.6 seconds left in the first quarter, former high school baseball player Jaylin Williams inbounding the ball 90 feet away from under the Thunder’s basket, Holmgren set up around the Bucks’ free throw line.
Williams heaved the strike up high where only Holmgren could catch it, while Jalen Williams went streaking down the sideline. Chet hit JDub with a pass and it come agonizingly close to a three-point play, but the well-executed set resulted in two free throws, that Williams nailed. Those types of late-clock situations can often prove pivotal in tight playoff games.
OKC Blue Wins the G League Championship!
After starting the regular season 2-9, the Oklahoma City Blue put together an absolutely incredible conclusion to the G League season, going 19-4 the rest of the way as it ripped off wins in 12 of its last 14 games to snag a spot in the Western Conference playoffs. From there, the Blue got a game-winner by Ousmane Dieng in overtime of its first round series against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the team’s last game at Paycom Center until nine days later when it faced the Maine Celtics in Game 2 of the G League Finals.
In between, the Blue were forced to travel by bus to Sioux Falls, N.D. and beat the Skyforce handily before jet-setting across the Rockies to Stockton, Calif. to play and beat the Kings, punching a ticket to the G League Finals against Maine with a 114-107 win.
Then it was all the way across country on commercial travel to Portland, Maine. The Blue dropped Game 1 of the Finals but came home to a buzzing crowd at Paycom Center to take Game 2 by 10, led by Lindy Waters III’s 27 points before shipping back up to Maine and winning Game 3 117-100. Ousmane Dieng, the Thunder’s 20-year-old, second year former lottery pick won G League Finals MVP after scoring 25 points on five-made 3s in addition to six rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
It was a magical ride for the Blue, and now Dieng and Waters III get a chance to re-attach to the Thunder for its own playoff journey.
Looking Ahead
Games 1 and 2 against the Pelicans or Kings will be played on Sunday and Wednesday, airing on Bally Sports Oklahoma. Tip times will be 8:30 pm CT. Both games will also be available on the radio on WWLS 98.1 FM the Sports Animal and the Thunder Radio Network. Follow along on our @okcthunder social accounts and stay here on the Thunder App or okcthunder.com.
