2024-2025 OKC Thunder Games Thread

[spearsy23]

I’m just ready for it to be over. This isn’t fun.

This is the best being a Thunder fan has ever felt. It's as awesome as 2016 when I watched the Cubs win game 7 with insane highs and lows. This isn't supposed to be easy! It supposed to torture your soul and make your body ache with highs and lows. This is what being a fanatic is all about!!! You want easy? I hear the 76ers are looking for fans.

Weren't you really young during thunder U part 1? I think the best time was probably 2011 when we were running through hall of famers in the playoffs with a team that absolutely wasn't supposed to be there. There was no pressure, so the losses didn't really hurt as bad and the wins were absolutely fire. It was playing and winning with house money.

[Dadouv47]

at this point I will just keep the same starting 5 again just not to mess with our confidence levels and bring Caruso/Cason after 4 minutes like we did against Minny.

First quarter of game 5 gonna be key. Pacers probably looking for some blood so we have to put them under water pretty fast.

I'm still concerned about the lack of ball movement and this is key for us to get 2 more wins. We aren't shooting well from 3 without moving the ball. I like our chances to improve our offense at home but those are bad habits of playing 3 Finals games without ball movement. Keep repeating myself, the timing was bad but I understand why Mark wanted to give Ajay a shot. Championship or not we badly need to add a decent playmaker.

The ball movement thing is weird. We've reverted to the Billy Donovan/Scott Brooks offense throughout the entire playoffs really. During the regular season Shai iso was generally initiated by some offensive action and the ball moving side to side prior to him catching at the top of the key. Mark's been preaching trust in every guy in the roster all season, but we refuse to take the ball out of Shai's hands now that it counts. I honestly think we'd have been more dominant all playoffs if we hadn't forced shai into the security blanket role, and now it's probably too late to try to correct. We're going to have to win on the backs of a 'big three' where only one is ready to be a primary offensive option at this stage in their careers. It's great that shai is capable of being this guy, but it's disappointing that he's having to be despite the depth of this team.

ball movement was good in the Minny series and fine in game 2 against Indiana. Shai and some others moved the ball better in game 2 and it allowed Caruso/Wiggins to have open 3's. I think it's mainly a lack of confidence from some of our guys (mostly JDub and Cason to me) and also Chet shot is a bit too slow against this fast Indiana squad. I also don't know why we aren't using the alley oop pass more against Indiana but gotta at least credit Pacers defense to some extent for that. It was a great idea to play Hartenstein with Shai yesterday to help him with screens but gotta create more pick and rolls too.

[Dadouv47]

I’m just ready for it to be over. This isn’t fun.

This is the best being a Thunder fan has ever felt. It's as awesome as 2016 when I watched the Cubs win game 7 with insane highs and lows. This isn't supposed to be easy! It supposed to torture your soul and make your body ache with highs and lows. This is what being a fanatic is all about!!! You want easy? I hear the 76ers are looking for fans.

Weren't you really young during thunder U part 1? I think the best time was probably 2011 when we were running through hall of famers in the playoffs with a team that absolutely wasn't supposed to be there. There was no pressure, so the losses didn't really hurt as bad and the wins were absolutely fire. It was playing and winning with house money.

even in 2012 the pressure wasn't as high as it is right now and I would also have a different feeling if we were playing an healthy Boston team. I have a ton of respect for the Pacers but objectively speaking this is a series we should win and might not recover from if we lose.

[bbms]

the pacers are doing a great job all around if they win it it's because they deserve it

on zach lowe show, zach told he received a message from a league gm asking him about the last time a finals was as hard fought as this

this has been a war

[Dadouv47]

Read on Twitter

?

[ThunderBolt]

The fan behind the basket losing his mind when shai hits the shut with 2:23 left just kills me. Mainly because that’s how I react with every play.

[Zagor]

The ball movement thing is weird. We've reverted to the Billy Donovan/Scott Brooks offense throughout the entire playoffs really. During the regular season Shai iso was generally initiated by some offensive action and the ball moving side to side prior to him catching at the top of the key. Mark's been preaching trust in every guy in the roster all season, but we refuse to take the ball out of Shai's hands now that it counts. I honestly think we'd have been more dominant all playoffs if we hadn't forced shai into the security blanket role, and now it's probably too late to try to correct.

That is because forcing turnovers into easy points is big part of our offense, and without it, guys are not that calm and focused on ball movement.
Also, we're not hitting open threes.
So it's natural that this young team then reverts to a thing that works - Shai and JDub ISO ball and two man game.

But I wouldn't say that's the case for the whole playoffs. It's 50-50 ratio.

[Dadouv47]

well at least Kenrich deserves to play more minutes going forward.

I'm still hopeful Wiggins can have a bigger impact at home.

Hope Cason can wake up. He's really struggling in the Finals. Thinking we are "good" to trade Dort this offseason is crazy even if love Cason potential. I think Dort went from most overrated to most underrated Thunder player in a 2-3 years span.

[Dadouv47]

I’m just ready for it to be over. This isn’t fun.

This is the best being a Thunder fan has ever felt. It's as awesome as 2016 when I watched the Cubs win game 7 with insane highs and lows. This isn't supposed to be easy! It supposed to torture your soul and make your body ache with highs and lows. This is what being a fanatic is all about!!! You want easy? I hear the 76ers are looking for fans.

Kizz, you lost the right to say that Presti doesn't want OKC to win a title after the Caruso thread. Blame him for whatever u want but not for not trying to bring a championship to OKC.

[Dadouv47]

Read on Twitter

"we need you, get up"

[kdthunderup]

at this point I will just keep the same starting 5 again just not to mess with our confidence levels and bring Caruso/Cason after 4 minutes like we did against Minny.

First quarter of game 5 gonna be key. Pacers probably looking for some blood so we have to put them under water pretty fast.

I'm still concerned about the lack of ball movement and this is key for us to get 2 more wins. We aren't shooting well from 3 without moving the ball. I like our chances to improve our offense at home but those are bad habits of playing 3 Finals games without ball movement. Keep repeating myself, the timing was bad but I understand why Mark wanted to give Ajay a shot. Championship or not we badly need to add a decent playmaker.

The ball movement thing is weird. We've reverted to the Billy Donovan/Scott Brooks offense throughout the entire playoffs really. During the regular season Shai iso was generally initiated by some offensive action and the ball moving side to side prior to him catching at the top of the key. Mark's been preaching trust in every guy in the roster all season, but we refuse to take the ball out of Shai's hands now that it counts. I honestly think we'd have been more dominant all playoffs if we hadn't forced shai into the security blanket role, and now it's probably too late to try to correct. We're going to have to win on the backs of a 'big three' where only one is ready to be a primary offensive option at this stage in their careers. It's great that shai is capable of being this guy, but it's disappointing that he's having to be despite the depth of this team.

ball movement was good in the Minny series and fine in game 2 against Indiana. Shai and some others moved the ball better in game 2 and it allowed Caruso/Wiggins to have open 3's. I think it's mainly a lack of confidence from some of our guys (mostly JDub and Cason to me) and also Chet shot is a bit too slow against this fast Indiana squad. I also don't know why we aren't using the alley oop pass more against Indiana but gotta at least credit Pacers defense to some extent for that. It was a great idea to play Hartenstein with Shai yesterday to help him with screens but gotta create more pick and rolls too.

Pacers defensive pressure and transition defence has really bogged us down in the half court. We aren’t getting those easy mismatches and leak out buckets that open a game up and take the wind out of teams. We have had to play a conservative offensive game as Pacers have been up our ass and physical the whole time. I don’t have an issue with the pressure and physicality that the Pacers are playing with but I find it weird that the NBA discourse seems to respect the Pacers for this aggressive style but apparently we’re the ones cheating and getting away with playing physical all playoffs.

Mark will need to work with the guys on better ways to beat that heavy press and get some easier buckets. The 2 man game worked well with Shai and JDub. Nembhard was glued to Shai and didn’t want to help so JDub found some easier driving lines which then forced Pacers to start switching that action in the 4th and that’s when Shai cooked Nesmith. There was a lot of moments where I saw a guy open in the corner but we took the contested mid-range instead. We’ve got to start hitting some of those outside shots and making that extra pass and you’ll quickly find this press start to fall apart but pressure does crazy things to teams and can make it hard to execute in the moment and especially on the road

[kdthunderup]

well at least Kenrich deserves to play more minutes going forward.

I'm still hopeful Wiggins can have a bigger impact at home.

Hope Cason can wake up. He's really struggling in the Finals. Thinking we are "good" to trade Dort this offseason is crazy even if love Cason potential. I think Dort went from most overrated to most underrated Thunder player in a 2-3 years span.

The intensity of the moment has gotten to Caso a bit. He had a good game 2 but has looked shell shocked out there in 3 & 4. I’m hopefully being back on home court will settle him down a bit. I much prefer him coming off the bench and bringing that energy rather than starting.

Kenrich makes those micro small lineups much more viable as he is a great rebounder. Him not getting minutes in game 1 when we sat both bigs is something I won’t understand. I expect the bench to get more burn back at home.

[Kizz Fastfists]

I’m just ready for it to be over. This isn’t fun.

This is the best being a Thunder fan has ever felt. It's as awesome as 2016 when I watched the Cubs win game 7 with insane highs and lows. This isn't supposed to be easy! It supposed to torture your soul and make your body ache with highs and lows. This is what being a fanatic is all about!!! You want easy? I hear the 76ers are looking for fans.

Weren't you really young during thunder U part 1? I think the best time was probably 2011 when we were running through hall of famers in the playoffs with a team that absolutely wasn't supposed to be there. There was no pressure, so the losses didn't really hurt as bad and the wins were absolutely fire. It was playing and winning with house money.

I'm from the 70s. I'll allow you to do the math.

[Kizz Fastfists]

Kizz, you lost the right to say that Presti doesn't want OKC to win a title after the Caruso thread. Blame him for whatever u want but not for not trying to bring a championship to OKC.

Explain the trade deadline. Everyone knew they should add an upgrade to the bench and Presti did nothing. Just because the Caruso trade has worked out for Chicago doesn't prove Presti is willing to take all the steps he can to win a championship. Fun fact, Giddy shot better from 3 this season than Caruso. Everyone here is complaining that the team is missing a quality ballhandler/playmaker and that is because Presti sent them to Chicago and then never replaced them.

[ThunderBolt]

spearsy23

I think it's important to acknowledge that spearsy23 has returned after like a 2 year absence from the boards. Pillendreher made a midseason return although his heart is still hurt about Russ being traded. I don't know what all of this means. In the words of Michael Scott, "I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious."

[Dadouv47]

spearsy23

I think it's important to acknowledge that spearsy23 has returned after like a 2 year absence from the boards. Pillendreher made a midseason return although his heart is still hurt about Russ being traded. I don't know what all of this means. In the words of Michael Scott, "I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious."

bondom only on the trade & transactions board and slick not posting here...only on the general board sometimes I think

some old Thunder era vibes for sure.

Nice to have old members back because sometimes I feel like this place is a personal diary full of in game whining stuff.

[Devilanche]

can't believe pacers fans are blaming the refs so much. Indiana spent the first 8 minutes of the 4th quarter at the line.

We’ve not one a game all year without the refs help.

worst part is that in game 1 we should have the clock reset at 24 seconds up one point and so the Haliburton game winner was never gonna happen.

Every refs have their bad day .

[Devilanche]

well at least Kenrich deserves to play more minutes going forward.

I'm still hopeful Wiggins can have a bigger impact at home.

Hope Cason can wake up. He's really struggling in the Finals. Thinking we are "good" to trade Dort this offseason is crazy even if love Cason potential. I think Dort went from most overrated to most underrated Thunder player in a 2-3 years span.

If we don’t have 9 other players we can rely on in the playoffs , we aren’t trading Dort .

[Devilanche]

spearsy23

I think it's important to acknowledge that spearsy23 has returned after like a 2 year absence from the boards. Pillendreher made a midseason return although his heart is still hurt about Russ being traded. I don't know what all of this means. In the words of Michael Scott, "I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious."

bondom only on the trade & transactions board and slick not posting here...only on the general board sometimes I think

some old Thunder era vibes for sure.

Nice to have old members back because sometimes I feel like this place is a personal diary full of in game whining stuff.

I don’t want to enable you during games .

It will be a back and forth of 2 annoyed individual.

[Devilanche]

Positive vibes -

I think Daig is really the best coach we had since we came to Oklahoma. He’s making adjustments and changes that the other 2 probably wouldnt .

Team - I get that we are young and not yet fully ready. But would have been nice if one of them start showing growth game by game . That could be enough for us to win 2 of the next 3 games .

Appreciate that they do have stretches or game that they perform but just want to see it more and more consistently.


This playoffs has been good for us.

Presti - I think he did a good to great job so far but I think we definitely need a trade or an MLE signing of a proven vet . Having just Caruso as a vet isn’t enough. IH himself is not that experienced in the playoffs.

Joe should be on the trading block. Dieng should be gone , I’m indifferent about Dillon. I want keep Kenrich and hope he plays more for the rest of the playoff . He’s another steadying vet we have and we need as much as those in the rotation.