The Thunder not only finished in first place in the Western Conference but want to confirm that proven value further. To have quickly crossed the desert of the League after the tragic breakups with, in order, Harden, Durant and Westbrook is not bad. In fact, they have risen like a rocket to the top of that hypothetical list of teams with the most future for the coming years.
The Oklahoma City franchise can accept the aggressive strategy of Sam Presti, its general manager, in recent times. He learned from the best, at least in this century: San Antonio Spurs. The manager has squeezed the draft picks route to the point of exhaustion (they have 36 choices until 2030 and they have lowered the total they had a few months ago), in a line that has turned out as well for him as it did not for another Sam, Hinkie, on the Philadelphia Sixers. Talent to do and what to cultivate at home. Even having to wait an extra year for Chet Holmgren (number two of 2022) after his Lisfranc injury suffered in his right foot. To simmer. And where are they now? In the second round of the playoffs and making history: they are the youngest team in history to have achieved that pass.
The Thunder are the expectation. Nobody knows if with these wickers, having the calm Shai in charge of operations and with a rookie in these matters like Daigneault on the bench, they are going to go further. Doubts only come from inexperience, nothing else can take them down from the pedestal on which they are perched. In a wicked West, with competition higher than ever, they have been the most in tune.
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The Mavericks are now the touchstone with which to measure those forces. They come to it with the confidence of continuing on an upward trend since the transfers last February, at the close of the market, but also with the pain of losing a center as valid as Maxi Kleber. The German, who will not play again this season, brings something different to Gafford and Lively in that position: the ability to take out his defender and threaten from the perimeter.
The approach of Jason Kidd’s team to this match is reminiscent of the playoffs two years ago. There they won two series and only the Warriors, who later became champions, stopped them. The roster is diametrically different, with the resources provided by the two aforementioned centers and Washington in the ‘4’ and changing a scoring trio with Dinwiddie and Hardaway for the omnipresence of Irving. In between, a renewal for Luka and numerous attempts to make him see that they are working in his favor so that he can extend the contract again when he plays. Now they are once again two steps away from the Finals and that is a knock on the door of any rival who aspires to the same prize.
The Mavericks got rid of the Clippers in six games, yes, but they applied their method with a heavy hand. Jumping over a rival who they consider classic. In the series they showed control of the situation despite giving up two matches and resources with which to decide in hot moments. The alphabet of every set that aspires to something. The path they find from here is one that remains to be explored; and they already have the experience.
Oklahoma and Dallas have recent precedent. As much as the last game of the regular phase of this season. A real beating (135-86) in a unified day in which the locals did have something at stake, finishing in first place, while the visitors reserved Doncic and Irving and went like ghosts through a duel that neither went nor came to them. Fifth place and its rival in the first qualifying round were assured. In the press room, one of the journalists who went to cover the appearance made the joking comment: “Well, see you in two weeks.” There was a lot of confidence that the Thunder would advance to this phase, whether because of the game or because of how tired an opponent would arrive weighed down by two play-in games; It is a little more surprising that that same trend extended to the Mavericks, and much beyond those four walls, given how complex their opening playoff matchup was. But here they are. And it promises to be a battle on another level. Doncic, Shai, Holmgren, Kyrie… A bib to taste.
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2024-05-06 17:31:15
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