Thunder Journal: Will OKC Win the NBA Cup?
Christmas came early this year for OKC hoops fans and Jaylin Williams. The Oklahoma City Thunder are headed to Las Vegas for the NBA Cup Semifinals.
At the risk of overhyping a regular season December game, OKC’s win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night at the Paycom Center was both a statement to the rest of the Western Conference and the Thunder’s biggest victory of the season.
Coaches and players understandably take the 82 game mindset and don’t value any single win or loss over the rest. But as one of over 18,000 in attendance for the NBA Cup quarterfinals clash, it sure didn’t feel like a regular ‘ol Tuesday night at The Paycom Center.
This was for a trip to Vegas. This was MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander versus MVP candidate Luka Doncic. This was a rematch against the team that knocked the #1 seeded Thunder out of the playoffs. This was a rematch against one of only five teams to give OKC a loss this season. This was Oklahoma versus Texas. This was nationally televised, and we’re not talking TNT’s JV squad. This was Chuck, Ernie, Shaq and Kenny. This was the only NBA game being played so every fan and analyst and talking head was watching.
And here’s what everyone witnessed: a playoff-like atmosphere in December. Say what you want about the NBA Cup, but the players on both sides played like they cared more. OKC fans, cheering and booing in prime Loud City form, fanned like they cared more.
Dismissing Dallas
In OKC’s biggest test of the season, both in terms of opponent and game meaning, the Thunder proved to a worldwide audience that this young squad is living up to the hype. SGA outscored Luka and Kyrie by himself. Lu Dort, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso suffocated the Mavs’ superstar duo. The OKC defense forced 19 turnovers. The Mavs’ big size advantage in the playoffs with Lively and Gafford would surely show up again, right? Wrong. OKC outrebounded Dallas by eight boards.
Cray Allred
“But PJ Washington was out!” Okay, I get that the Michael Jordan of the 2024 Western Conference Semifinals missed this game. But so did Chet Holmgren. You know, the guy that resulted in OKC outscoring the Mavs every time he was on the floor in the playoffs (with OKC bleeding points when he was on the bench). So while both teams were missing key pieces, the Thunder were missing one of their three All-Star level talents.
One Western Conference rival and Texas team down. One to go.
The Field
The thing is, SGA & Co already eliminated their biggest threat in the NBA Cup field. Nikola Jokic, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards and Ja Morant didn’t even make it to the knockout round on the West side of the bracket. Steph Curry and Draymond are already back home in the Bay, much to Steve Kerr’s dismay.
