At various points this season, the most interesting subjects surrounding the Oklahoma City Thunder was their somehow not getting better despite canning Scott Brooks, and whether or not Kevin Durant would come back after this season. Their current campaign lost in the glow of Warriors and Spurs and the glaring, crashing light that was Durant's impending Free Agency. Somewhere along this path, they realized how to play basketball again (may be an oversimplification). Everyone in the basketball community loved the Thunder, but were simultaneously disappointed. They should have been better. They should win 60+ games. They should do this and that. Then we get a game like last night, when you realize why people get disappointed, because peak Thunder is scarier than anything I've ever seen on a basketball court.
The best basketball I've seen a team play was the San Antonio Spurs in the last three games of the 2014 Finals. After two close games in San Antonio started the series at 1-1, the Spurs went to Miami, demolished LeBron in his last two home games there, then wrapped it up by blowing out the Heat a 3rd straight time, this time going on a 59-22 run in mid-game. The second best I've seen a team play was the late season 2012 Spurs, who won their last ten games (going from 40-16 to 50-16 - keeping their 50+ win seasons streak alive even in a shortened season), then won their first ten of the playoffs. Then the Thunder beat them four straight.
That was the beginning of peak Thunder. The 2012 Spurs were a better offensive version of the team that would rule the NBA two years later. The Thunder ran them off the court. Of course, that team had James Harden. This team doesn't. This team is just ale to potentially run the best team ever on the court. The Thunder at their best are an enthralling force of pure basketball skill (Kevin Durant's shooting) with marvelous physical talent (everything Westbrook does), and when it is harnessed, when it is cured perfectly, it is the most explosive scene I have ever witnessed.
That performance in Game 3 was a true shock to the system. The Thunder started strong, but the Warriors caught up and tied the game at 40. The Thunder then went on a 67-26 run. The Warriors could do nothing about it, losing player after player in transition, getting mauled on the boards. They fell victim to the Thunder playing at their best, combined with some good luck elements like Roberson hitting his shots. Still, even if Roberson misses his threes, it would have been a 58-26 run, that's pretty brutal also.
That was a performance that happens when Westbrook and Durant say 'We run this show' and team up to just constrict the life out of another team. Both players had signature moments in that first half that should be engraved in statues outside that Thunder arena. First was Westbrook muscling a Warriors big man for a 1-handed offensive rebound. The other was truly breathtaking, when Durant clean blocked Draymond and a dunk attempt, sprinted down the court, and swished a three in transition. That gave the Thunder a 59-44 lead. It was basically over at that moment.
The Thunder may lose the series, because the largest failing of this group is Westbrook and Durant not saying 'We run this show' enough, or Westrook doing too much and hurting his team, but even if they don't we should cherish these moments. Win or lose, the Thunder may be getting split apart. Durant's free agency has become less of a headline now that people have to focus on the fact the Thunder might actually win this series, but that still is a dark cloud in the future. And if that is the case, let these games be reminders of how special it was.
Given their running the Spurs off the court in 2012, it became a punchline that it was the Spurs who made the next two finals (and came a 1-in-a-100 sequence at the end of a certain Game 6 from going back to back) and not the Thunder, but games like last night's make you believe their stance that the Spurs in 2013-14 and the Warriors last year got lucky with the Thunder injured. Last year it was Durant. In 2013, it was Westbrook tearing his meniscus in the 1st round. In 2013, it was Ibaka injured and while he came back against the Spurs, he was not 100%. The Thunder are healthy, and they may never have a better chance.
In a league so dominated by the exploits of the Warriors and Spurs this year, the Thunder finally waking up and the light getting switched on could be the lasting takeaway from this season. It probably started with that embarrassing loss in Game 1 aginst the Spurs. Following that game, they won 4 of 5 against a team that was 67-15. Now, they've won 2 of 3 against a team that was 73-9. They faced two of the Top-10 best regular season teams ever, and have won 6 of 8. This is not normal. They outplayed and executed the Spurs, and now they've outplayed the Warriors famed death lineup. It just goes to show, when Durant and Westbrook decide to be on, that is the ultimate death lineup.
Sure, this may be hyperblic. and the Warriors are more than capable of winning the next three and making this whole piece irrelevant, but that is kind of the point. Instead of complaining of lost chances in past years, and inadequate coaching, and Westbrook's flaws, let's just revel in what the Thunder could be and were on a few select occassions, because I don't know if anyone was ever better on a court.
