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00:00Well, the NBA Finals start on June 5th, and the team we know already there in the championship
00:05set, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
00:08JY still with us here on this Friday morning on the Early Line on Sports Grid.
00:12JY, you were not with us after OKC clinched a Western Conference championship in only a
00:19fifth game a few nights ago at home, winning by 30 in game number five to pull off the
00:24gentleman's sweep against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
00:27OKC expected to reach this stage throughout the entirety of this NBA season.
00:34But JY, we had a few questions about this Thunder core, led by the now MVP in Shea Gildas
00:40Alexander and head coach Mark Dignall.
00:43Did they have the postseason pedigree?
00:44Had they learned from their experience to reach a place they had not since 2012?
00:51What did you make of how Oklahoma City reached the NBA Finals, doing so in only five games
00:56in the Western Conference Finals?
00:58I'll be honest with you, Ben.
01:00They need to thank the Denver Nuggets.
01:02Because the Denver Nuggets pushed them.
01:04And they lost different ways.
01:06They lost a game one at home, right?
01:09They had a tight loss in game three.
01:11They had to come back after losing game six to win a game seven.
01:15But since that game seven, about three minutes left to go in the second quarter, they have
01:21been the Oklahoma City Thunder team that we've expected and seen all season, which is rely
01:26heavily on that highly ranked defense and then have enough offensive firepower to be offensively
01:34diverse.
01:35Meaning, I know SGA is the MVP.
01:37We have to crown him and maybe start to have this conversation of the talk of, is he arguably
01:43maybe the best player in the world or how close is he to that number one spot?
01:48But it's been the evolution of Jalen Williams.
01:51It's been having Chet Holmgren for the entire season.
01:54It's getting Isaiah Hartenstein from the New York Knicks to give them that leadership, that
01:59toughness in the paint.
02:00It's Alex Caruso, who literally, I should just call him the prison warden because he
02:05just puts whoever he guards, he puts that kid in jail.
02:08But it's the bench.
02:10And it's been a slow buildup by Dan Presti.
02:15And now it looks like, I don't even know if I'm even on right now because I can't see
02:17anything.
02:18You are.
02:18Maybe just refresh real quick.
02:20Give me a free shot.
02:21No, there we go.
02:21No, don't refresh.
02:22Keep it right there.
02:23Use it.
02:24Now you go to the superstar right now.
02:26So I'm supposed to ask the question to coach why he's frozen.
02:28It doesn't matter, coach.
02:29Let's unfreeze this.
02:30Let me ask you this question, too, because you look at the Knicks game where if they
02:34force game number six, which they did, if they force game number seven, which we'll
02:37find out.
02:38The question to me is going to be, coach, is if we get them talking about the Knicks
02:42only a two or three game distance to the finals, but then you have, let's just say, OKC
02:47all for a long time.
02:48Is that good for them?
02:49Because usually when you're a team and you're hot, you're playing well, you don't want
02:53to sit out for a full week.
02:54How does that affect OKC heading into the finals where they're going to be a team that's going
02:58to be really rested, especially if we see seven games in the East?
03:02Yeah.
03:02I mean, if you think about it here, if it goes seven, what I may do, guys, to be honest
03:07with you, is I may take Indiana and New York in the first half to be in the lead.
03:11Right now, FanDuel only has odds for game one for Indiana, Oklahoma City because of the
03:16fact that Indiana is up three games or two.
03:17And right now, it looks like it's a minus nine with a favorite.
03:23So, you know, I'm going to probably take the Knicks or the Pacers if it goes seven to win
03:27the first half and then play the game live.
03:30But here's the thing, though.
03:31If you, no matter who it is between New York and Indiana and off to Oklahoma City, these
03:37are three teams that haven't been there.
03:39So what are the nerves going to be like, right?
03:42How are the nerves going to be there?
03:43I think it affects both teams, but it may affect Oklahoma City a little bit more in regards
03:48to the fact that they would beat a home team with a longer break.
03:51Maybe look at Indiana or New York plus the points or even on the money line in the first
03:56half to try and jump game one, particularly if the Knicks and Pacers go to Monday night
04:00for a game seven.