Oklahoma City Thunder Clinch Spot in 2025 NBA Finals

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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.

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