The Thunder soundly defeated their opponent in Game 2 against the Pelicans, sending a warning to the Nuggets and other teams in the West.
In Game 2 against the Pelicans, the Thunder may have become the strongest team in the Western Conference with a thunderous victory.
When the 2024 NBA playoffs begin, all eyes are on the series between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers, two teams with superstars that will surely have the ability to go deep in the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks are also another series that many are keeping an eye on in the Western Conference.
However, with the Thunder being the youngest team in the playoffs, no one seems willing to give any love and respect to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
If you ask the Thunder if they care, their answer is definitely "no," because the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference is comfortable with that weakness.
The Thunder have been left out all season, and when they beat the Nuggets in the regular season, everyone was always dismissive and waited to see if they could do it again.
When the Thunder beat the Nuggets again, there was still no one to show respect to them.
Frankly, the Thunder are probably the most disrespected 57-win team in NBA history.
Experience is important to a certain extent, but what Oklahoma City have accomplished this year and how far they've played in the playoffs is enough to make a bold claim that they're the strongest team in the Western Conference right now, if not if they're not already the No. 1 seed.
In a game against the New Orleans Pelicans, who advanced to the No. 8 seed through the NBA play-offs, the Thunder picked up pace in Game 2 after a tense 94-92 Game 1 victory.
The Thunder beat the Pelicans 124-92 to take a 2-0 series lead.
This stunning Thunder victory is truly a signature victory for Oklahoma City, as it clearly shows why they are capable of seizing the Nuggets' throne and dominating the Western Conference.
In addition to having league potential MVP Shay Kyrgyz-Alexander, the Thunder have shown the right way to win the game. It started with a squad that really had no obvious weaknesses, even though their starting lineup averaged just over two years of experience.
The Thunder have no obvious weaknesses, with only two teams rounding out the top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency: the Boston Celtics and the Thunder.
In addition to being one of the best scoring teams in the league, the Thunder also rank among the best in shooting percentage, free throw percentage, and field averages per game. Defensively, Oklahoma City ranks first in steals and blocks per game, as do opponents in turnovers per game.
When you look at the stats, it seems like the Thunder aren't a good rebounding team. They finished 27th in the regular season and lacked total rebounds, and creating second chances from offensive rebounds isn't their forte.
Although this trend continues in the playoffs, the Thunder are a crazy rebounding team.
That means the Thunder will be a better rebounding team as the game progresses into the fourth quarter.
So far in the playoffs, the Thunder have struggled with rebounding in the first, second, and third quarters, ranking outside the top 10 in all three seasons. In the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City averaged 10.5 rebounds per game, tied with the Mavericks for seventh in the playoffs.
The Thunder know their opponents and adjust their style of play as the game progresses, which is extremely rare among young teams. Maybe a tall team with a constant burst of rebounding will annoy them, but the Thunder have proven that that's not the case for the New Orleans Pelicans, who have one of the best rebounders in the league.
In Game 1, the Thunder were overpowered 52-44 in rebounding, allowing Valanciunas to grab 20 total rebounds. And in Game 2, Valanciunas grabbed just seven rebounds, while the Thunder beat the Pelicans 37-35 in rebounding.
Although the margin of victory in rebounding was small for the Thunder, there was a huge gap between them winning the game by 32 points and winning the game by 2 points.
This team adjusted their attacking strategy through Mark Daignoldt in the game, turning their weaknesses into strengths. It's not hard to be a great team when everyone believes in the goals set and there are no obvious weaknesses.
Shay Gilgios-Alexander is the Thunder's only All-Star, and that won't last long, especially with the rise of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.
The Thunder are one of the deepest teams in the league, and Dagnoldt is unafraid to play 10, and sometimes even 11, every night, and Kyrgyz-Alexander is by no means a team that goes it alone. Williams and Holmgren are the perfect complements to the SGA because their style of play fills in the gaps.
Williams can handle the ball and can sometimes be the team's starting handler, while Holmgren is extremely difficult to stop in pick-and-rolls. It's not just because of his size, but also because of his ability to hit jumpers from beyond the three-point line.
In Game 2, Williams and Holmgren combined to score 47 points and shoot a whopping 30/19 from the field. Holmgren grabbed seven rebounds and two blocks, while Williams had seven assists and one steal. These two 2022 draft picks have been needed by the Thunder, and their development potential remains limitless.
These two players never bow their heads to anyone on the court, they just bring the fight to the opponent. All-Star or not, Williams and Holmgren are two young, growing players that every team wants to have.
Selfishness and arrogance are ultimately what lead to the collapse of championship-caliber teams, and there are very few players in this league who don't have their own arrogance, and the Thunder have 15 of them.
When it comes to building a culture and getting everyone in the same boat, Thunder really stands out. Almost the entire roster went into the league together, and they grew up to be young together.
That's what makes the Thunder so unique, especially since they continue to learn basketball and life lessons from each other, even including the sights of running to their teammates to lift them up after a foul or conceded ball.
After beating the Pelicans by 32 points, it was Kyrgyz Alexander who clearly chose to talk about his thoughts. While Shai was chosen to stand in front of the cameras to give his opinion, Holmgren, Williams and several others rushed in to stand by his side, a team tradition that the Thunder had developed in their postgame interviews.
In this team, no one is independent, and no individual is higher than the others.
They all understand that Kyrgyz-Alexander is the best player and the first choice on the ball, but Kyrgio-Alexander also understands what it means to be the leader of the team.
The Thunder really like to get along with each other, and this postgame interview is the main reason why Oklahoma City is ready to take the Nuggets throne.
When Kyrgios-Alexander wrapped up his thoughts, in his post-game interview, Holmgren took the microphone and made it clear that his teammate was the MVP of the season.
"He's too humble, but that's what MVP is. Holmgren announced. "MVP of the league. I'll say it for him, because he won't speak. ”
Kyrgyzstan-Alexander's other teammates simply smiled or nodded in agreement after Holmgren made his MVP point clear.
The most beautiful thing about basketball is when there is a team that shares the ball on every offense and plays freely without any worries, and that's the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite their youth, they are selfless and willing to take on challenges from other league teams trying to catch up with them.
At the moment, it seems that no team in the Western Conference is in a better position than the Thunder.
Bottom line: A little more respect, the Thunder are not vegetarians, and it is not the Nuggets who must win when they break out of the West, but the Thunder.