The path to an NBA championship is a well-established one. Take a young star, surround him with complementary pieces, get unceremoniously bounced from the post-season a few times by championship teams, make some crucial adjustments, and, finally, win it all.
The Oklahoma City Thunder set out on that path six years ago, when Kevin Durant fell into their laps as the second-overall pick of the 2007 draft. With a franchise centrepiece in place, GM Sam Presti drafted the perfect complement in Russell Westbrook (he almost drafted Brook Lopez instead…) and plucked Serge Ibaka out of obscurity in 2008, forming a young nucleus that led the team to the post-season the following year.
Continuing along the trail, the Thunder transitioned from afterthought to contender on the backs of their stars—in ’09–10, Durant became the youngest player to win a scoring title, while Westbrook took over full-time point guard duties, starting all 82 games and improving from 5.3 assists a game as a rookie to 8.0. Oklahoma City won 50 games that year, but lost in the first round to the Los Angeles Lakers, who went on to hoist the O’Brien Trophy. The next season, they turned in the best record in the NBA, while Presti prepped his roster for post-season basketball, adding size, experience and defensive post-presence by shipping Jeff Green to the Celtics for Kendrick Perkins. The result was a trip to the conference finals against the Dallas Mavericks, where they again bowed out to the team that went on to win the title.
Last season, the Thunder posted the best record in the West, as Durant and Westbrook blossomed into the deadliest one-two punch in basketball. In the first three rounds of the playoffs, OKC lost three games total before getting steamrolled by Miami in the finals. But, as those who have travelled the same path know, sometimes you need to get Chumbawamba’d (or is it Tubthumped?) before you succeed. The Thunder are better than ever and poised to reach the end of the path this spring.
With the emergence of the Clippers and Nuggets, it’s easy to forget just how well the Thunder have performed this season. “Even though they’ve won 60 games, this team has flown under the radar all year,” says longtime NBA coach and current analyst Flip Saunders. “Sometimes making that rise is more exciting than staying on top.” And with the league’s best point differential (9.4), it’s safe to say OKC is doing just that.
Despite attempting the second-fewest field goals per game, the Thunder are tied for first in points per game. That’s because they shoot the ball with remarkable efficiency (OKC is third in both field-goal and three-point percentage), and are also at the top of the league at getting to the line and converting their free throws—crucial assets in playoff ball.
Defensively, they do a fantastic job at protecting the paint, leading the league in blocks and sitting second in both opponent field-goal percentage and defensive rebounding.
No team relies on two players like the Thunder rely on Durant and Westbrook. Fortunately, those two are virtually indestructible—Westbrook hasn’t missed a game since his junior year of high school, while in six seasons Durant has missed just eight games total. What’s more, they’re both enjoying their best seasons to date. Factoring in shot attempts and free-throw proficiency (to add value to more efficient scorers), Durant is on his way to the fifth-greatest scoring season in NBA history. Behind him in the top 10 sit Michael Jordan (three seasons, 1987–90), Charles Barkley (’89–90) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (’71–72). Meanwhile, Westbrook’s athleticism and relentlessness make him arguably the hardest point guard in the league to slow down. No biggie. Together, they’re a matchup nightmare, capable of beating you down in any number of ways. “I can’t remember a team with two dynamic players like them,” says Saunders. “You can go way back to Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, when those guys were each getting 30 a game, but they weren’t dynamic as a combination like Westbrook and Durant.”
Some of the greatest teams in the history of the game—the West/Baylor Lakers teams, Olajuwon and the Rockets, and, of course, Jordan’s Bulls—have rebounded from crushing finals losses to win it all. The blueprint has been established, and Durant and Co. are following it to a T. Now it’s time to finish the job.
