The Oklahoma City Thunder are the Bad Bunny of the NBA.
Still young and relatively fresh on the scene, but already so grown-up and accomplished that the world knows their name.
And these Thunderdudes are some bad, bad bunnies.
They won the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs for a reason. They dispatched New Orleans in the first round in a sweep, although that was with the Pelicans missing their best player, Zion Williamson.
Still, the Thunder are a youthful force. Of the 421 points they scored in the four victories against the Pels, how many were scored by players over the age of 25?
Two.
Two!!!
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the MVP finalists, along with Luka Dončić and some dude from Denver. Jalen Williams is a young beast whose playoff numbers against New Orleans weren’t far off of SGA’s.
Chet Holmgren is the best, skinny big man since Kevin Durant.
“Obviously, they’re young. But they’re hungry and talented,” Dante Exum said after the Mavericks extinguished the Los Angeles Clippers late Friday night at American Airlines Center. “It’s not going to be an easy series. It’s going to be a battle. And everyone here knows that. So we’re going to take a day to recover and come back prepared.”
Indeed, the Mavericks took Saturday to decompress after the stressful first-round win in six games over the Clippers.
On Sunday, they’ll start preparation for the Thunder. The conference semifinals starts Tuesday at Paycom Center in OKC.
“They’re a great team,” Josh Green said. “We got a lot of respect for them and we know it’s going to be a fast-paced game with all their young guys. It should be a lot of fun.”
The Thunder finished the regular season in the top four in both total offensive and defensive ratings. That’s a big reason why they had the best record in the Western Conference.
And also why Mark Daigneault was chosen as coach of the year.
And, of course, Gilgeous-Alexander has become one of the faces of the new generation of superstars in the league, along with Dončić.
Unlike the Clippers, who were built around aging stars who are destined for hall of fame inclusion, the Thunder are building their legacy right now.
There are those who say they are too young and inexperienced to survive a long playoff grind.
But all teams who become great must start their journey somewhere. This could be the place, with Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way.
““Obviously, he’s in the MVP conversation,” Exum said. “But they got a lot of guys. Williams is really good, too. I think just the whole team. They have a lot of pieces that worked and jelled together.
“And I think the biggest thing you see is they had a lot of chemistry, so it’s just going to be a long, grinding series.”
When asked about the impact Gilgeous-Alexander can have on a game, Green said: “Everything. He’s a great player. Everyone has a lot of respect for him. He’s super-fast and able to get to his spots on the court. It’s going to be difficult, just like every superstar in the league.”
Is he worthy of the MVP conversation he’s getting? Green had the perfect reply.
“Of course,” he said, “but we have the MVP.”
Briefly: Speaking of Dončić, he plopped down in his seat in the locker room after Friday’s game as reporters huddled around. He was exhausted. And he also was grateful that the Mavericks were able to finish the Clippers in six games. “Big, big,” he said. “If we had to play Game 7 (Sunday) and then Tuesday, if we would have won, in OKC, it would have been very tough. So it’s important to get rest now.” . . . The Mavericks will find out more on Sunday about the injury to Maxi Kleber’s right shoulder. He went down early in the second quarter of Game 6 and did not return . . . Dereck Lively II had 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes in Game 6. But that wasn’t the most impressive part of his night, coach Jason Kidd said. “Stepping up to the free-throw line when they were doing Hack-a-Shaq, he did a really good job of keeping his composure and knocking down free throws,” Kidd said of Lively’s three-of-four accuracy from the foul line when the Clippers sent him there intentionally in the fourth quarter. “And so, this young man is only 20 years old. And he also, since we got him, has changed the culture here.” Kidd has lauded both Lively and Daniel Gafford for prospering in their tag-team roles: “One has to start and the other has to come off the bench,” he said. “And they’ve been both great in those roles.”
X: @ESefko
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