Dominant in their respective conferences in the NBA standing phase, Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers enter the “Playoffs” surrounded by expectation. There are two teams of young players, willing to show that their moment has arrived in the American Basketball League.
But that’s it, young people.
Thunder’s starting quintet, for example, has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, Lu Dort, 25, Jalen Williams, 24, Chet Holmgren, 22, and Isaiah Hestein, 26. One of his main competitors in the west is Los Angeles Lakers, led by Lebron James, 40.
In this sense, it is not much different from Oklahoma Cleveland, with Darius Garland, 25, Donovan Mitchell, 28, Max Strus, 29, Evan Mobley, 23, and Jarrett Allen, 26. Numbers that do not summarize the issue, it is not merely old. This is the fact that these athletes have no experience in long campaigns in the knockout.
“The talent level is obvious,” said Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson. “Now, do they have the belief that they have champion talent? Do you really believe you can hit Boston? Do you really believe you can beat Indiana? Do you really believe you can be a conference finalist?”
The coach believes, but makes a point of presenting this provocation to his players. You want them to understand that these are the questions the rest of the NBA is asking, even after a very above average season.
CAVs started their campaign with 15 straight wins. Then they still had sequences of 16 and 12 triumphs. With the creative talent of Mitchell and Garland and the defensive tenacity of Mobley and Allen, they finished the first phase with 64 wins and 18 losses.
Two of the wins and also two of the defeats were against Boston Celtics, current champion. The Massachusetts team was second in the east (61v, 21d) and is pointed out in the main bets of Las Vegas as the favorite to earn the conference.
In the west, Oklahoma City –Okc, in the abbreviated version used by the fans – is in front of the bets, with old men in the fray. The main threats are the main threats Los Angeles Lakers of the Forty Lubron, and the Golden State Warriors of Stephen Curry, 37, Darymond Green, 35, and Jimmy Buter, 35.
The favoritism of young people in the numbers is very well justified. It is tiring to list the impressive statistics of a team that reached 68 wins – the seventh in the NBA history – even with important embezzlement in much of the course – the big holmgren and Hartenstein only started playing together, recovered from injuries two months ago.
There were 51 wins by double digits. OKC made 1,055 more than its opponents, the largest mark of all time in the league, a positive balance of 12.9 points per game. There has never been such a long distance from the first to the second place of a conference: 16 advantage over the Houston Rockets (52V, 30d).
“We have a young team, and I think it is important that they understand what we have achieved. It is possible to celebrate what we have achieved and continue hungry,” said coach Mark Daigneault. “We have a special group of players that operates in a special way.”
Special was the season of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, favorite to the MVP award, delivered to the best of the year. With averages of 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and 5 rebounds and a defensive work that statistics do not show, the Canadian was the ace of a team that took the luxury of experimenting formations and alternatives while breaking records.
None of this will matter if the production is not similar at the time. Thunder will debut in the knockout on Sunday (20), in a better series of seven against the winner of the duel between Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks, who finalize the Western recap on Friday night (18). CAVs are in the same situation in the east, waiting at Atlanta Hawks or Miami Heat.
The “Playoffs” will start on Saturday (19), with four clashes. They are: Indiana Pacers x Milwaukee Bucks (14h), Denver Nuggets x Los Angeles Clippers (16h30), New York Knicks x Detroit Pistons (19h) and Los Angeles Lakers x Minnesota Timberwolves (21h30), all transmitted to Brazil at ESPN 2 and Disney+platform.
