All season long, OKC’s youth was used as a reason why they wouldn’t win the title. The word “experience” was used more than in a theme park VIP adventure brochure.
What if, after all that, the biggest advantage for OKC was their youth? What if it was their lack of experience? What if it was the newness of it all?
In the last week, we’ve weeded out the remaining supergiants down to just OKC as the last alive. Cleveland fell to the Pacers in a meltdown of injuries and bad game planning. The Cavs have made three playoff runs together, and each has been disappointing in entirely different ways, but you can’t say they’re inexperienced.
In part, the Cavs went from being a young team too rattled and shaken by the adjustment to playoff life in 2023 to a team that seemed too comfortable, that was so used to dominating regular season teams that they were completely off their rocker when the Pacers punched the in the mouth from the tipoff of Game 1.
The Celtics weren’t made of the championship DNA they thought they were; they were just a carbon copy of last year’s team. Jrue Holiday was a year older. Al Horford was a year older. The miles from so many playoff runs caught up with Jaylen Brown and eventually, in tragic fashion, Jayson Tatum. (Never mind whatever happened to Kristaps Porzingis, a genuine medical mystery.)
Boston thought it would be like last year, and when it wasn’t, they faltered, then imploded.
But OKC?
The kids?
The kids were alright.
OKC grew up in this series. They were punched in the mouth in Game 1 by Denver and responded with the appropriate force in a blowout Game 2 win, something neither the Cavs or Celtics managed. They faced adversity when Denver took Game 3 to put them behind in the series, and responded with clutch wins in Game 4 and 5.
Oklahoma City enters the conference finals, knock on wood, fully healthy.
They went seven games with a bruising Nuggets team and walked away unscathed by soft-tissue injuries or damaged joints.
In this new parity era, everyone is searching for the tried and true formulas. It’s not defense, Indiana and New York were both bottom-15. It’s not really offense, only OKC remains as a top-five offense.
It can’t be depth; the Knicks are coached by Tom Thibodeau and the Wolves are running a pretty tight rotation.
But age might be the separator.
The Thunder’s top eight playoff rotation players have an average age of 24.9 years. The Knicks are at 27.6, the Wolves at 28.1 and the Pacers at 26.5.
Compare that to the Celtics at 30.1 and the Warriors at 28.6. The Nuggets are at 26.8 if you include Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther, but in reality, they were at 28.3 without those two and with Christian Braun being the outlier.
The remaining finalists were able to go long minutes through tough rounds and survive. The Knicks are running a seven-man rotation but tha’ts mostly because Tom Thibodeau is a sadist. The Thunder go 10 deep, so does Indiana. Minnesota hasn’t had to try their younger guys yet, they are the most like the ones who fell away.
OKC was fresh for Game 7 vs. Denver; the Nuggets were gassed. They were beaten up from shoulders to hamstrings to elbows to wrists. The Thunder, though, had all the energy in the world and ran the Nuggets for 40 minutes.
Maybe the time for veterans is over. In an era where players are playing longer than ever into their mid-30’s, it sure seems like the best way to win a title is to get them ready young.
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NBA news roundup
- Boston was eliminated Friday, and word came out after that Jaylen Brown has been dealing with a torn meniscus for some time. If Brown opts for surgery, it could exacerbate exactly how much of a lost season next year looks to be for the Celtics without Jayson Tatum. Cam Boozer, anyone?
- The Suns reportedly narrowed their coaching search to nine names, including former Hornets coach James Borrego, Mavs assistant Sean Sweeney, and Wolves assistant Micah Nori, among others.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo will reportedly meet with the Bucks next week. Get ready for fireworks. Or not. It’s Giannis, you never know.
5 key stats from the second round of the NBA playoffs
Cason Wallace led all players in the second round with at least five games played and 20 minutes per game in net rating; the Thunder beat the Nuggets by 23.7 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, just a smidge better than with Alex Caruso whose defense the world fawned over in Game 7.
The best on-court offensive rating belonged to Tyrese Haliburton, and while Halibuton’s individual numbers have been good not great, you should know that Haliburton has become one of the best players in the league at shaping the game without having to score. He leads the playoffs in assists and held a 122 offensive rating in Round 2 vs. Cleveland.
Donovan Mitchell led all players in the second round in fastbreak points per 36 minutes and points off turnovers per 36 minutes. He had an incredible playoff run with an awful ending.
Rudy Gobert had the fifth-most fouls drawn per 36 minutes against the Warriors, behind Mitchell, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, and Mitchell Robinson (hack-a-Mitch).
Your best shooter of the second-round? Miles McBride of the Knicks, who led all players with at least five games played and twenty minutes per game played in eFG% with 69.7 percent.