What a pro wants, what a pro needs is a Larry O’Brien Trophy — at least if that pro plays in the NBA.
The Oklahoma City Thunder squandered a chance to earn the coveted hardware Thursday night, plain and simple.
While another title shot awaits in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, OKC can’t deny the fiasco that was Game 6.
“We got exactly what we deserved, what we earned,” Thunder star and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have to own that.”
Moving past it posthaste is the only option — unless these Thunder want to be remembered more for their AT&T ads than anything else.
Numerous statistics stood out from a lost night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. OKC committed 21 turnovers, including eight by Gilgeous-Alexander — the most he’s had in a playoff game and tied for the most in the regular season.
Indiana led by as many as 31 points and never relinquished the advantage after recovering from a sluggish start. The Pacers limited the Thunder to 38.2% shooting through three quarters, including an abysmal 3-for-20 effort from long range.
“The way I see it is we sucked tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We need to learn the lessons, and we have one game for everything we worked for, and so do they. The better team Sunday will win.”
A member of the better team Thursday agrees.
“We’ve got one game,” Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton said. “One game. Nothing that’s happened before matters. And nothing that’s going to happen after matters.”
OKC might disagree. The attributes that made the Thunder favorites entering the series — and now in a Game 7 on their home floor — remain in play.
Aren’t these the same Thunder who finished an NBA-best 68-14 in the regular season, including 35-6 at Paycom Center? Weren’t they tops in the league in scoring defense and point differential? And didn’t they regroup from a similar scenario in the second round, losing Game 6 on the road before walloping visiting Denver by 32 in Game 7?
Of course they are. Just like these Pacers haven’t shed their standing as the comeback kids of the playoffs. The Thunder might already be planning a championship parade, after all, if not for Indiana’s furious rally to win Game 1.
“The narratives are going to be almost poison,” Haliburton said. “To talk about what this would mean to our city and our organization and legacy talk, and we played so well and now the pressure is on [OKC]. … There’s going to be narratives that we can’t really pay attention to.”
So the Pacers simply won’t, claims the star playing through a strained right calf.
“We’ve got to control what we can,” Haliburton added. “So much of these games has come down to who is going to start the fight from a physicality standpoint, take care of the ball better and rebound the ball better. Those are the important things that we need to focus on. I don’t even want to say, celebrate this one tonight and move on. It’s done with. We did our job to take care of home court, and we have to be ready to compete in Game 7.”
OKC secured double-digit home victories in Games 2 and 5 of the Finals and is 10-2 at Paycom Center in the postseason.
Another chance at immortality awaits Sunday as the Thunder get a second crack at the crown.
They know what they have to do. Thanks to Thursday, they also can be sure of what to avoid.
