At last, Thunder find themselves; the rest is beautiful Oklahoma City history
Halliburton injury, though awful, can't dent OKC's accomplishment
Finally, they were themselves.
It wasn’t one player scoring all the points.
It wasn’t the other team missing every shot.
It wasn’t prolonged trench warfare, or the NBA equivalent of it, as it was the night they evened things in Indianapolis, staging a desperate comeback that kept coming and coming and coming.
Instead, the Thunder were the Thunder doing Thunder things.
When it was over, when the buzzer struck on a 103-91 Game 7 victory, Oklahoma City became a championship city just like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, just like Boston, Miami and San Francisco.
Yeah, those cities may have more championships, but none more recent, none more appreciated and none, it appears, won by a happier or humbler bunch of guys, which goes right back to the appreciation.
“They behave like champions, they compete like champions,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “They root for each other’s success, which is rare in professional sports.”
So, third quarter, first possession, OKC down a point:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander misses from 3-point land, nobody grabs the board, ball out of bounds, Thunder ball. Gilgeous-Alexander misses another 3, Chet Holmgren grabs the miss, puts it back, Thunder up a point.
Next, before the Pacers could get off a shot of their own, Jalen Williams forces a turnover from Andrew Nembhard.
Back with the ball, Williams misses another 3, but a Lu Dort rebound extends the possession. The shot clock about to run out, forced to shoot a long 3, Dort drains it.
Thunder up four points.
OKC’s next time down the court, Alex Caruso misses a lay-up in traffic but gets his own board and tips it in.
It went like that.
Turnovers forced, offensive rebounds becoming baskets after misses and, wouldn’t you know it, the Thunder couldn’t miss forever and finally made some shots, too, at one point going on a 20-2 sprint that put them up 90-68, a run not extinguished until Pascal Siakam hit a jumper with 7:29 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Pacers first points of the final frame.
They just did it. They just took it.
“We rose to the moment,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Once and for all, they did.
In this topsy-turvy and maddening series, they did.
Of course, Gilgeous Alexander was named MVP.
How could he not have been after scoring 29 points and averaging 30.2 the length of the NBA Finals? Also, he only made 8 of 27 shots, and that was kind of the cool because it meant so many other contributions became required.
Like Gilgeous-Alexander himself finishing with a series-high 12 assists.
Like the three steals corralled by Dort, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso, too.
Like Holmgren finishing with five blocks, three in the fourth quarter, one of them right after Indiana had turned OKC’s 22-point edge into a 12-point edge with almost five full minutes still to play.
Like the whole roster taking care of the ball to the tune of just seven turnovers, 14 fewer than the Pacers gave back, and 10 fewer after the half, when OKC committed only three to Indiana’s 13.
Good chance those numbers aren’t so lopsided had it not been for Tyrese Halliburton, once again tempting fate attempting to play through a strained calf, suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon and leaving the game for good (and who knows how much of next season) with 4:55 left in the first quarter.
And good chance Indiana, the whole state, will long wonder what might have been had Halliburton not lost the injury lottery one game after winning it big in Game 6, sending the series back to Oklahoma City.
In just 7:05 on the court, he scored nine points on 3-of-4 3-point shooting.
A horrendous injury to a fantastic player.
Still, it is not the Thunder’s nor their fans’ obligation to wonder what might have been. Instead, it’s a world championship for a team and a city that mirror and embrace the same values.
“They prioritize winning, they prioritize sacrifice,” OKC general manager Sam Presti said of the collection of players he’s put together. “And this all sort of unfolded very quickly.”
Quick is right.
Following unexpected success behind Chris Paul and a second-year Gilgeous-Alexander during the COVID season, the Thunder have gone from 22 wins to 24 wins to 40 wins to 57 wins (and six playoff wins) to 68 wins (and 16 playoff wins).
After going on the run that made it 90-68, the Thunder made one more field goal the rest of the game, a Williams-assisted dunk from Holmgren with 2:24 remaining that pushed the lead from 10 points to 12.
So it got uncomfortable, but never too uncomfortable.
The end was beautiful.
The players began celebrating as Holmgren hit two free throws with 32 seconds remaining.
After Daigneault subbed everybody out, Holmgren found Clay Bennett, the man who brought the Sonics from Seattle and made them the Thunder, who was crying, for a big hug.
“I would say three of the biggest people in all this [are] Mark, Clay and Sam,” Holmgren explained afterward. “I’m not out there on the floor if those three don’t believe in me.”
And before he was done on the topic, Holmgren made clear it was more than the coach, owner and general manager who’ve made his Oklahoma City experience so special.
“This isn't the end of the road,” he said. “We have a long ways to go as a team. Everybody understands that. This is a huge moment for everybody here, the city, the fans, Clay, Sam, Mark, all the players, the sports staff.
“I’m just so happy for everybody that we can share this moment together.”
When the Larry O’Brien Trophy was handed to Bennett by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, he lifted it as high as he could and in less than a second the players hands were on it, too, and a second after that only they were holding it.
When they handed Gilgeous-Alexander the Bill Russell Finals MVP trophy, he actually said it belonged to Williams just as much, and a few seconds later Williams was holding it in the air himself.
Unselfishness…
Lack of ego …
Team first …
Right to the end. Right to a title.
Finally, they were themselves.
The rest is history.