The Thunder are one away from the Finals for just the second time since they’ve been called the Thunder.
And Oklahoma City should finish the job here at some point, having taken control of the Western Conference finals with a 128-126 road win over the Timberwolves on Monday. OKC leads the series, 3-1, with Game 5 in their building.
Anyway, should the Thunder advance (I’m guessing they will), it will be the first time since 2011, when much younger versions of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden teamed up and led them out of the West. That was during a lockout season. They lost to the Miami Heat of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest.
These Thunder are very different. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the main man, the newly crowned NBA MVP, a one-man offensive juggernaut (with plenty of support from the likes of Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and so on). The swarming, relentless defense does the rest.
For the record, the Thunder were once known as the Seattle SuperSonics, a proud franchise that made three Finals appearances itself — 1978, 1979 and 1996. Their lone title came in ‘79, when they avenged a loss against the old Washington Bullets the previous year.
Some will tell you these Thunder are better than any of the previous versions (Sonics or Thunder). Now, these Thunder are just one win away from getting the chance to prove it.
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This is what happens when you have a great GM like Sam Presti, a billion draft picks, and a player the caliber of SGA. I wanted the Cavs to take him in 2018 and instead we took Colin Sexton. It would’ve been a great match up with the Cavs and Thunder in the finals but… Maybe next year 🏀😎