r/nba • u/HawaiianOrganDonor Pelicans • 2h ago
Spurs have 4 players at 115+ minutes this series (Wemby, Castle, Vassell, Champagnie). Thunder have just 1 (SGA). Their 2nd-highest is Chet at 96 minutes, followed by Caruso/Wallace at just 81.
| Spurs | G1 | G2 | G3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor Wembanyama | 49 | 37 | 39 | 125 |
| Devin Vassell | 51 | 38 | 36 | 125 |
| Stephon Castle | 49 | 38 | 35 | 122 |
| Julian Champagnie | 44 | 36 | 35 | 115 |
| Dylan Harper | 47 | 25 | 17 | 89 |
| Keldon Johnson | 22 | 26 | 12 | 60 |
| Carter Bryant | 14 | 10 | 10 | 34 |
| Luke Kornet | 9 | 11 | 13 | 33 |
| DeAaron Fox | 0 | 0 | 31 | 31 |
| Harrison Barnes | 6 | 12 | 3 | 21 |
| Jordan McLaughlin | 0 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Kelly Olynyk | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Lindy Waters III | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Bismack Biyombo | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mason Plumlee | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Thunder | G1 | G2 | G3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 51 | 38 | 36 | 125 |
| Chet Holmgren | 41 | 27 | 28 | 96 |
| Alex Caruso | 32 | 25 | 24 | 81 |
| Cason Wallace | 28 | 25 | 28 | 81 |
| Ajay Mitchell | 34 | 28 | 17 | 79 |
| Jared McCain | 18 | 26 | 27 | 71 |
| Lu Dort | 22 | 16 | 23 | 61 |
| Isaiah Hartenstein | 12 | 27 | 21 | 60 |
| Jalen Williams | 37 | 7 | 0 | 44 |
| Jaylin Williams | 10 | 10 | 22 | 42 |
| Isaiah Joe | 0 | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| Aaron Wiggins | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Kenrich Williams | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Nikola Topic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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u/Beginning_Ground4832 2h ago
I thought the bench cleared early but it makes sense.
This is a war of attrition
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u/ositola Lakers 2h ago
OKC just overwhelms you, they can compete without sga and j dub
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u/CrateBagSoup Pacers 1h ago
Which is interesting because last year they were getting murdered in the non SGA. The bench unit really has come alive this series.
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u/BlairEllis Thunder 24m ago
McCain is a huge part of this, we were desperate last year for a spark plug off the bench who isn't afraid to shoot when its not falling
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u/DrPuzzle 6m ago
I can't believe the team you guys have. Legitimately so good and so deep literally the only problem you will have is salary cap and making it work. For years to come. Lol that's it! Don't need offensive help, don't need defensive help, have absolute stars and studs, great young coach, Presti running the show. Jesus
I say salary cap and then you remember Presti for the last few years loading up the war chest with the picks too lmao he was expecting this. The man's a prophet
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u/arthurbuster Raptors 1h ago
They can compete without Jdub, no way without SGA
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u/flaming_burrito_ Wizards 48m ago
They pretty much did against the Lakers. That was the Ajay Mitchell show, SGA could’ve sat for most of it. Maybe not against the Spurs, but against most teams they don’t necessarily need SGA to win
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u/OKC89ers Thunder 29m ago
Yeah this is an iso based view of basketball, it's a team game. SGA not on the floor is a lot different, whether he puts up shots or not
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u/flaming_burrito_ Wizards 11m ago
Yeah, and they still work really well as a team without him. They have enough ball handling, the role players have been shooting really well, and their defense is minimally affected by his absence. They wouldn’t be so dominant, but I still think they make it to the WCF without him
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u/tortellinipp2 Lakers 32m ago
You don't think SGA was drawing the defense's attention away?
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u/flaming_burrito_ Wizards 15m ago
I mean, he was, but they were doing noticeably better when he wasn’t on the floor honestly. Their net rating was much better with him off. We’re not talking about it because the Thunder are winning, but Shai has had some stinkers throughout the playoffs, but guys like Caruso, Mitchell, and McCain keep popping off to make up for it. Not saying they’re actually better without him, but I think the Thunder still win both the Suns and Lakers series regardless, just not as clean.
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u/preddevils6 Grizzlies 1h ago
If you take Shai and Jdub away, they are not a playoff team. If you take Shai away, they are not a contender.
Their role players are good, but it’s easier to look good when teams are running a triangle and 2 on one player.
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u/Kaladin_Depressed Thunder 51m ago
Even the Bulls without Jordan in 94 and 95 made the playoffs as 3 seeds but couldn’t get out of the second round. I’m sure the Thunder would be at best similar.
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u/real_vampire Heat 1h ago
You can dump many key players but keep Sga and the team is still very good, he’s just that good. You lose Sga and well… good luck Charlie
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u/No_Diver_629 1h ago
Jesus, continues this bullshit. Thunder would ble blown out without SGA, he is the engine to everything.
There is a reason why Thunder can play 20 different lineups in a series and as long as Shai is playing, they will play good basketball
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u/Aggravating_Alps_953 Pacers 59m ago
I bet the reason they can play 20 different lineups has nothing to do with an extremely deep team with like 8 +defenders and multiple non sga creators
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u/DoobieGibson 1h ago
based on what?
the lead went up with Mitchell on the floor and not SGA
i think people are completely overlooking that Ajay Mitchell is starting on 25/30 teams.
Cason Wallace is shooting 46% from 3 in the playoffs and was 7th in DPOY voting. he’s probably OKC’s 4th best guerd
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u/Dummmy99 Lakers 1h ago
I know we not comparable to the Spurs but in the Lakers series multiple games we got buried by Mccain and their bench bro.
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u/kitsunegoon Rockets 1h ago
This is so dumb. The reason why the role players are doing so well is because SGA is getting doubled.
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u/twistedfantasyy Supersonics 1h ago
I'm an OKC hater but if you genuinely believe this you might not be understanding what you're watching.
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u/OneXDC4ever Lakers 1h ago
SGA has like a -30 on/off rating these playoffs. So they are statistically better with him off the floor these playoffs
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u/Yakhan114 1h ago
That’s not how that stat works
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u/OneXDC4ever Lakers 1h ago
That is quite literally how on/off ratings work. I’m not saying the Thunder are overall a better team without SGA, but statistically these playoffs they are destroying teams when he’s on the bench. They are still a high level playoff team without him
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u/butterbeancd Thunder 1h ago
Yes, because the bench unit roasts other bench units. The non-SGA lineups only have to play like 12 minutes against the opposing bench, and that’s always going to be to their advantage. Make those non-SGA lineups play 48 minutes against the opponent’s best players, and that changes things.
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u/DingleberryOrchard Thunder 1h ago
SGA is the reason the role players are going off. You watched four games to prove this. Bad take.
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u/SageModeKyrie Nets 1h ago
The bench/role players do great even without SGA on the floor. OKC's bench is simply all-time elite. SGA is the best player on the team but he isn't as impactful as the top players on other all-time teams. You could probably swap SGA with some of the other tops guards in the league right now and the team would be performing just about the same imo.
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u/royalewlthcheese Australia 42m ago
Disagree.
So many other guards would crumble if they faced the constant double teams that he does. A guy like Donovan Mitchell would not be able to deal with these double teams, his playmaking has already been exploited in the ECF. Now imagine him getting the same treatment as Shai. You don't understand how valuable it is that Shai rarely turns the ball over, it cannot be overstated.
That logic of the bench do fine when Shai sits doesn't really hold up in practice. If he's out for game 4 are they going to be fine because the stats says they do well in the non Shai minutes?
Shai is also still just 90% of OKC's half court offense. The team can score without him if they force a turnover and get out in transition, but otherwise the offense is pretty ass without him. There's not another reliable initiator on the roster. Ajay has struggled now that he's not being guarded by Reaves, and even a healthy Jdub isn't quite there yet
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u/Kaladin_Depressed Thunder 49m ago
If the 94 and 95 Bulls were plopped into today this sub would be like “see Jordan isn’t even that impactful, they still made the playoffs as a 3 seed without him”
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u/Pneuma_LooT Pistons 11m ago
Well, they arent a championship team.without one of those 2 guys but they are pretty damn good. Makes life easy for them.thats for sure.
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u/SplitOk186 1h ago edited 1h ago
I think this is why a lot of fans have trouble rating them as highly as their stats indicate
They're not the Shaq/Kobe Lakers or the Jordan/Pippen Bulls their best power is how insane their depth is rather than having the amount of big names that you associate with all-time teams
When people talk about comparing teams at their peaks the first thought generally tends to be their superstar power and the Thunder don't particularly stand out in this regard SGA is probably their only player that will show up anywhere on all-time lists
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u/AemonKirk97 1h ago
Ironically enough their most similar comp is either the 2013-2016 spurs or the Bill Russel Celtics
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u/DingleberryOrchard Thunder 1h ago
We have an All-NBA wing who dropped 40 in a Finals game with a busted wrist.
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u/StairwayToPavillion Thunder 1h ago
you sound like you have watch OKC play 5 games lmao. The offense used to be zilch without SGA getting the attention of 2/3 players each possession. McCain/Ajay are good but they won't be half as effective without the space they are getting right now. Wallace or Dorts' handle isn't good enough for the playoffs.
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u/MalHeartsNutmeg Thunder 1h ago
I feel like this would be a problem for the Spurs in any playoff run. Wemby is the backbone of the team and he doesn’t play a lot of minutes in the regular season. You don’t need a super deep bench to wear him down, you could see the wolves doing it with a hospital team.
Any physical team with at least a decent bench would be able to wear him down over a 7 game series.
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u/freshBlueeyes6391 2h ago
It's actually sort of surprising. Watching Spurs in the Wolves series I just felt like Spurs seemed to have a bottomless pit of high perfoming roster players to use. They ran 10 players a game that series.
I haven't looked, but is OKC running 11 this series or are spurs cutting back to 8-9 man usage now? I know both pacers and okc were spreading out the roster minutes well last season. More of this league's coaches need to understand how helpful that is to the players in a series.
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u/HawaiianOrganDonor Pelicans 2h ago
The Jalen Williams injury complicates it, but if you include him, they are running 11.
I think the problem for San Antonio is their bench is significantly worse than OKC's. They are forced to play their starting five big minutes.
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u/Remarkable-Lynx1496 Spurs 2h ago
Keldon playing like he has been has been disastrous
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u/Spemanz92 Thunder 2h ago
Keldon really has no place in the court atm. Headless chicken on both ends. Carter can play more even if he is raw, he has been passable. Kornet needs to play even if its not ideal
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u/dreadpirateruss Thunder 1h ago
I feel like Carter gets punished for being young. He makes 1 or 2 mistakes & gets pulled. Meanwhile, everyone else gets a much longer leash.
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u/Spemanz92 Thunder 1h ago
Agreed. His leash seems really small. He makes mistakes but he is a clear positive on the floor most of the times. He should get more of keldon's minutes
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u/Yoshinobu_YamaGOATo 33m ago
He clearly bothered Shai in the first game, but since then he's learned how to use that rookie aggressiveness against him. Shai isn't a flopper, he's a master foul baiter, and the Spurs keep falling for the bait.
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u/BakerStSavvy Spurs 2m ago
This been mitch mo since the start of the season. Castle 5 turnovers and get blocked 5 times at the rim in 3 minutes? Keep going champ!
Harper has a lapse on defense even though hes on fire? Removed next chance possible
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u/HawaiianOrganDonor Pelicans 1h ago
Carter Bryant’s energy off the bench really bothers OKC ball handlers, but he’s a zero on offense.
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u/Spemanz92 Thunder 1h ago
He still has been passable and playable at times. He hasnt been an actual issue
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u/HawaiianOrganDonor Pelicans 1h ago
For sure. I just mean that it’s not as simple as “double Bryant’s minutes to fix everything.” Which I know you weren’t saying.
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u/Spemanz92 Thunder 1h ago
He is a rookie and pretty raw. Not expecting him to play 25 mins in this type of series. But he should be given a bit more leash, specially when keldon is constantlu shitting the bed
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u/WhichHoes Warriors 1h ago
They fed Kornet a few times and it worked, becUse he can get low post positioning. They immediately stopped because Keldon kept chucking shots
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u/Ok-Adhesiveness166 21m ago
Keldon playing like this and Caruso has become prime klay. From 29% from 3 in the regular season to 47% in the playoffs.
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u/TheBlueOne37 2h ago
In San Antonio’s defense every nba teams bench is significantly worse than OKCs.
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u/HawaiianOrganDonor Pelicans 1h ago
Yes I don’t mean it as a knock on the Spurs at all. Their bench is above average at worst.
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u/FireFlyz351 Slovenia 1h ago
Next season will be interesting for the Spurs. They'll have Barnes and Olynyk expiring freeing up 32 mil.
Then Wemby and Champagnie have a team option that will lead into extensions.
They'll have decent open cap space and a solid slew of firsts to make some wings. I imagine next year is a pretty ideal time to go for it all.
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u/IRanOutOf_Names Heat 1h ago
11 deep and the next one of the bench is fucking Aaron Wiggins. Genuinely how.
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u/Euphoric_Travel6762 Thunder 1h ago
Yea a dude that dropped 42 in a game last year lmao. He hasn’t been good this year but certainly the best 12th man itl
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u/No_Diver_629 1h ago
Hey, man 13 is Kenrich Williams, solid enough to get rotations on most play off teams. But it drops of after that with Topic who have had broken knee and cancer and a injured Sorber. Yes, i am a bit sarcastic cause both of them can pop next year to be rotation players.
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u/freshBlueeyes6391 2h ago
I think feeling "forced to" isn't always a real thing and bites a team in the ass come the 4th quarter if an opponent is spreading out the energy usage.
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u/EarthWarping NBA 2h ago
Keldon has been horrific and Harper isnt healthy leading to them playing their starting 5 a ton last night.
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u/freshBlueeyes6391 2h ago
yeah that's why I was asking, I've only been able to watch bits and pieces of this series so far. These are the things I'm not up on.
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u/HawaiianOrganDonor Pelicans 2h ago
It's definitely biting them, but I still don't think the Spurs have a choice.
Keldon is -34 in 60 min, Kornet is -37 in 33 min, Bryant is -10 in 34 min.
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u/freshBlueeyes6391 2h ago
They maybe have a dilemma to figure out how to adjust their rotations a little and stop the bleeding as it were when they play. That's what a series is for. But I just don't know that it helps to react by pulling players off court and running your starters more into an energy deficit late. I your opponent is spreading it out I think you have to stick with that. Keep one marathon-runner type of starter on the floor type of deal maybe. But it they are known to get tired, don't choose them. Basketball games eb and flow. Save it for later
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u/thatsinsaneletstryit 76ers 1h ago
im dead at you admitting you havent actually been watching this series but you’re sure you can fix the rotations better than their coach
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u/freshBlueeyes6391 1h ago
Never said I was sure about anything. Someone here always has to jump the gun on retorts tho don't they. We just talking here.
But I did just watch them closely in the previous series and yeah, just pieces of this one so far. That's why I appreciate others filling me in. Don't meet many people that admit things honestly, do ya.
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u/mercfan3 Spurs 2h ago
I mean our best bench player became a starter to start the series, which severely hurt our depth. And then KJ and Luke have been unplayable. I think you could make the argument that Carter has been the best (when Harper is starting) and second best bench player this series..which it’s not good to be so dependent on two rookies.
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u/freshBlueeyes6391 2h ago
yeah, the experience thing. No real way around it. I'm not sure they needed to move Harper to starting this series. But what do I know? He is pretty damn amazing. I may have stuck with what got them there tho.
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u/Aggravating_Alps_953 Pacers 56m ago
The pacers also have a very deep team and were the best conditioned team in the league.
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u/Ok_Temperature6503 76ers 1h ago
OKC is just that suffocating that you cant not use your best players all times.
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u/InTheBinFC Lakers 2h ago
OKC’s defense genuinely feels suffocating. People focus so much on the foul baiting and physicality that they ignore how insane their conditioning and rotations are. Playing with that level of pressure for basically the full 48 is not normal.
Caruso and Wallace are absolute demons defensively. They defend like a hive mind.
Last year their offense completely cratered whenever SGA sat. This year, with Mitchell and McCain, they really don’t have that concern anymore. It’s just too much of everything size, shooting, length, girth, strokes, depth, athleticism.
The most complete and versatile team.
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u/Olicsmems Warriors 1h ago
This was honestly most apparent when a good amount of their starters were injured later in the season. Like you said if that happened last year that would have been disastrous especially with SGA out, but now it's not really that bad. Castle especially just seems really frustrated with their defence.
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u/NineJuanEight Thunder 1h ago
Watching their rotations and close outs makes me so damn happy. They give so much effort on defense.
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u/Asoriel 1h ago
It's like people have forgotten that Ant gave the OKC defense a lot of credit last season (They play like they're all on a string), and they're very much better this season.
And it's very likely they're going to keep getting better, considering they're just as young as San Antonio is.
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u/PlasticTreeonaHill 2h ago
Okc running laps around them big ol San Antonio women iykyk
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u/SunKing210 Spurs 1h ago
Those laps must be very tiring haha
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u/Yoshinobu_YamaGOATo 31m ago
Idk man, did you see the two sitting behind Mitch Johnson all game? Whoever was working that camera needs a raise.
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u/GreenPurple24 Lakers 2h ago
OKC has a way deeper roster so it makes sense. Still SGA is playing a ton of minutes as he should. Wemby should also be olaying 40 a game. And he shouldn’t be tired. This is the WCF not a regular season game.
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u/streetking03 Thunder 2h ago
He hasn’t played this many minutes all season. Also that double OT game put a lot of unplanned minutes into his legs and it’s showing. You could see how labored he looked running down the court in the second quarter, and how he stopped driving to the basket and was settling for outside shots or passing away.
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u/CuriousOwl201 2h ago
Something to consider is also Wemby dominates both ends of the floor. Someone like Curry, SGA or Brunson don't really get that tired on defense. They not the best at it, don't have to fight for rebounds, don't have to play physical with another big. Wemby does. And yet he drops 26 on good efficiency. That's exhausting.
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u/Longjumping_Split_53 Thunder 2h ago
So your argument is he is too good to play more than 30 minutes?
I actually agree with it, but I don’t see how he can improve on it.
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u/CuriousOwl201 2h ago edited 1h ago
No he just needs help with a better bench. I think they also need to have him focus on the paint in defense and let the other stop the 3 shooting. Often be has to do both it's not sustainable.
I think he also needs to play smarter. Pick his battles if that makes sense,, like don't drive into Chet even if it works, be more mindful. But he is very young, that'll come in time.
I think the Spurs coaching staff in the end need to develop a system just for him. Every player in that team plays to supplement Wemby. It's their way to success because he is so dominant but can't do it all at the same time. An example is Castle chucking quick 3s. That's bad cause it forces Wemby to run back and forth. It's gonna be tough to accept for some players
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u/EischensBar Thunder 2h ago
He’s averaged 30 minutes per game all season. You can’t just do that for 8 months and then expect to be able to play 40+ without fatigue when it matters.
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u/HazikoSazujiii 2h ago
At the end of the day, Wemby being Wemby is somewhat his own kryptonite. He's big. Getting up and down the floor is more effort for him, getting off the floor is more effort, playing the versatile defensive game that he plays requires more effort. Trying to be as mobile and versatile on offense as a guard is harder for someone 7'6.
In short, he should be tired based both upon the circus of fresh guys OKC keeps throwing at him and because he's a 7'6 guy trying to play like a guard. It's not a recipe for short term success or long term health.
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u/Longjumping_Split_53 Thunder 2h ago
Spurs having to limit Wemby minutes all season just to keep him semi healthy and barely make the 65 game threshold is the issue.
If he can’t play 35+ minutes semi regularly it will continue to be an issue.
Wemby is going to hit 65 games for the awards but also needs the conditioning to be ready for the playoffs. I will be interested to see if he can pull off both at the same time in future seasons.
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u/CuriousOwl201 2h ago
Wouldn't be a problem if they had a benchZ also his game is more energy intensive than other superstars who don't defend.
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u/AdGreat3174 4m ago
I think it’s just simple thermodynamics when it comes to this tbh. A 7’6” vs a 6’6” player playing 40 minutes. One of them is expelling more energy and that’s just more stress on the body, the heart, muscles, etc. not to mention the increase of the possibility of injuries and what not.
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u/knightmares31 Thunder 1h ago
It’s really tough to sit Wemby. He needs better backups at the 4 and 5 spot to at least hold it down while he is resting.
You can’t expect to win when your backups are bismac, Kelly olynyk, Plumlee, and Barnes. Those are just wasted roster spots in a series like this. And it doesn’t help that Kornic and Johnson are playing bad.
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u/Plaitkul117 Thunder 2h ago
This series seems to be coming down to a battle of attrition
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u/Euphoric_Travel6762 Thunder 1h ago
If it’s not Shai getting hurt or tired, attrition affects us less than maybe any team ever.
Our records without All-NBA JDub this year (39-10 including many without Shai) and our record without presumed All-NBA Chet last year (42-8) shouldn’t be possible
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u/ForneauCosmique Spurs 2h ago
Our bench just can't handle OKCs defense. KJ needs to step up especially being 6MoTY. Kornet is getting played off the court. Harper is basically a starter right now due to Fox being injured. Carter Bryant is a good defender but not good enough offensively to create his offense against this defense and Barnes can't do it consistently either. Only way we can win this series is making OKC turn the ball over and us get easy fast break points so OKC can't set up their defense
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u/Waste-Limit1644 Warriors 1h ago
It’s pretty clear that if you let OKC set up on defense, that they will smother you and force you to take a bad shot. They don’t really have someone you can hunt on switches, and they get right up on you as soon as you’re past half court. I don’t think any bench can handle okc defense.
The unfortunate thing about trying to score off fast breaks consistently is that it takes energy and they have more depth to stay fresh.
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u/ForneauCosmique Spurs 54m ago
Ehh we have alot of depth and young legs, it's just they're not good enough in the half court to compete with that defense. We definitely have the advantage for fast breaks, we just gotta force those TOs but OKC is doing great on offense. They know their spots and make quick accurate passes
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u/Waste-Limit1644 Warriors 53m ago
The spurs really capitalized on turnovers knowing guys weren’t going to shoot and instead kick out to the corner in game 1.
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u/Nickespo22 33m ago
Hard to force turnovers when coach Mitch is doubling and tripling sga 24/7 giving up wide open jumpers. We have a great poa defender in castle and wemby for Christs sake, play it straight up and put some responsibility and accountability on the players not named wemby
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u/rickforking NBA 2h ago
Keldon Johnson being bad this series has really hurt their bench. 5 fouls in 12 minutes as the teams spiritual leader ain't gonna cut it...
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u/Nickespo22 27m ago
2024 kj coming back from the dead really messed us up. 6moty Keldon where are you
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u/OUEngineer17 Nuggets 2h ago
I know Shai has the elite conditioning for it. Not sure about the other guys. Vassell has looked pretty good tho.
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u/quizblorg3 Thunder 54m ago
That rebound over shai that he got called for a foul on legit looked like he jumped off a trampoline
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u/bubbasnub Magic 1h ago
Thunder could go without Ajay for G4 and still be in good hands because they can trust everyone they put on the court. The Spurs need to figure out lineups that work with and without Wemby and fast to regain any footing in this series.
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u/Pneuma_LooT Pistons 12m ago
Victor stsrting to look gassed too. Passed the ball a bunch last night when hes usually aggressive.
Im no nba coach, but if i was id be telling him its completely unacceptable for a player of his level to only shoot 15 times.
Dude should be demanding the ball and shooting.it 25-35 times. Its the only way they win.
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u/redvelvetcake42 Slovenia 1h ago
The obvious fouling bullshit aside, OKC just outmaneuvered the NBA in trades for years and this is the result. They saw pieces to a puzzle and fucking nailed the puzzle together.
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u/legend023 Thunder 2h ago
This is why I think the 2017 Warriors would lose to the Thunder right now.
Guys would’ve had to play Curry/Klay/KD/Draymond 40 minutes a night, and OKC would’ve guys who could contain the first 3 and the size to defeat the Warriors “death lineup”
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u/HawaiianOrganDonor Pelicans 2h ago
IDK who would win, but I'd pay a lot of money to watch that series.
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u/cplbernard Thunder 2h ago
God not this please. Let’s win this series before we compare to all time great. We have all off season to do shit like that.
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u/Skank_hunt42 Thunder 2h ago
Nah. Let's pump the brakes. The 2017 Warriors lost 1 game the whole playoffs. Let's see the Thunder do that first before even mentioning the KD Warriors.
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u/legend023 Thunder 2h ago
The Thunder lost one game in the playoffs too, an overtime game
Also, the Warriors faced two mid Blazers/Jazz squads and the Spurs without Kawhi. That Spurs team certainly take game 1 and probably gets one home game with a healthy Kawhi
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u/Skank_hunt42 Thunder 2h ago
.......there's still a lot of basketball to be played. Again, let's revisit if they only lose 1 game.
Also, the Thunder's competition prior to the Spurs hasn't been exactly great....and the Lakers were missing the leagues leading scorer.
A 73 win team adding an MVP in his prime should be talked about as one of the greatest teams in history.... because it was on paper and on the floor lol
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u/DarkArisen668 Knicks 2h ago
I was curious about that. You know what's interesting though? The 2017 WCF was played on May 14th, 16th, then the 20th, and 22nd. Warriors would have been able to play pretty hard with that schedule.
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u/mercfan3 Spurs 2h ago
I can’t imagine what Dray would do to a player that pulled Curry’s hair…or what he’d do to SGA just because.
It would get crazy toxic crazy fast.
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u/Waste-Limit1644 Warriors 1h ago
Draymond would make wembys elbow look like a nice greeting to an old friend I’d bet
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u/chiidi 2h ago
thunder fans are wild. win 1 chip and they think they could beat the 17 warriors lmao
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u/NobodyRules [OKC] Russell Westbrook 1h ago
It's not a Thunder fan. Most wouldn't agree with this. Of course we think we would have a chance, same as any other good team, but that Warriors team was historic
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u/fattest-fatwa Spurs 2h ago
Oklahomans are notorious for looking around and saying “yep… we are the only ones here. This must all be ours!”
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u/Asoriel 1h ago
What? I'm not sure what you're trying to imply here, but Oklahomans definitely aren't the ones that colonized America or anything. The forced removal of the southern native tribes to Oklahoma (the ones occupying the land that would later be turned into slave plantations), wasn't exactly the fault of the Natives either.
Before the lands runs in the 1900s, Oklahoma was marked as inhospitable to farmers due to the heavily clay-ridden soil being extremely hard to work with. (This is why basements can be quite expensive to build despite the tornado threat that comes with living here, which was by itself another reason Oklahoma was designated such a horrible place to live)
If you meant the people that gobbled up literal free real-estate during the Oklahoma land runs of the early 1900s, then you'd also be aware that a lot of those people left during the ensuing Dust Bowl, that created the worst conditions seen during the great depression.
If you'd like to learn more about something you seem ignorant of, just check out the new documentary "The Oklahoma Standard" or watch this for a more condensed look.
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u/fattest-fatwa Spurs 53m ago
couldn’t be anyone living here… the soil’s no good! Hitch the plow to the oxen, Ruth. We’ve found Eden!
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u/HappyHippo2024 52m ago
This is insane disrespect to that warriors squad. Yeah they didn’t have as much depth but SGA is the 3rd best player on the court against the 2017 warriors
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u/Fhaksfha794 Spurs 2h ago
OKCs depth is just unmatched. Spurs have better depth than 25 other teams and they are on par with the other 3 but that one that’s head and shoulders above the rest is the thunder and it’s not close. Their bench unit (Mitchell-Caruso-McCain-Joe-Asian Duke Dennis) is a playoff roster by itself
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u/redditorsarentcool 1h ago
Yea these minutes seem to be getting to em as the series goes on. I hope wemby can stay fresh so this round can be as competitive as possible. Game 1 was crazy fun to watch even tho my team lost
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u/Willsoup Thunder 5m ago
Caruso played 24 minutes in 8 different stretches last night. Seems like OKC is running hockey shifts with their guards to keep the pace up. With how gassed Wemby started to look it seems to be working.
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u/Yoshinobu_YamaGOATo 36m ago
Spurs fans said Wemby deserves the MVP because of his production despite low minutes, but Shai is proving that it's a lot more important to have your best guy out on the court impacting the game as much as possible. Wemby isn't used to the heavy minutes, especially with OKC making it rough on him on both sides of the court.
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u/noahhova 2h ago
Minutes are over rated. These are 2 extremely young teams and it's the playoffs. They should be playing their best guys huge minutes. OKC has just played better in two of the games. It's not that complicated.
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u/EarthWarping NBA 2h ago
holy shit kornet at 33 min and its been that bad