Three Takeaways From OKC’s No. 1 Seed-Clinching Win Over Dallas

It was a history-making Sunday for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In its final game of a successful yet slightly surprising 57-win campaign, it became the youngest team to achieve both that win count and a No. 1 seed in a season. With an average age of 23.9 years old — increased heavily by the addition of Gordon Hayward — Oklahoma City is accomplishing things unprecedented for the stage its at.

The Dallas Mavericks had little opportunity to prevent that from happening. Most of their roster rested last night, including its star guard duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. This led to a 49-point loss, but one that ultimately mattered less for Dallas.

It was a combined effort for the Thunder, with all of its starting lineup receiving less than 20 minutes of playing time. The leader was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 15 points, followed by Aaron Wiggins’ 14 points.

Here are three takeaways from the 135-86 win:

1. Bring the Thunder

If yesterday’s win proved anything, it was that Oklahoma City is ready to embark on a playoff run.

The Thunder went on a five-game win streak to finish out the regular season, allowing the returning Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams to get comfortable after dealing with minor injuries. The roster is fully ready to head into its first shot at the Larry O’Brien since the “bubble season” of 2020, with the highest expectations its had since the days of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

The pieces to the puzzle have fully come together, too. Gilgeous-Alexander has clearly been at the top of the MVP contention ladder, Chet Holmgren has been the second-best performing rookie of the year and Jalen Williams has made the expected sophomore jump, but it’s clicking even beyond that.

Josh Giddey played possibly his worst stretch of basketball of his entire career on multiple occasions throughout the season, but finally got back to his confident play in the final few weeks. Bench pieces such as Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins have been crucial pieces to Oklahoma City’s success, while the newest addition of Gordon Hayward has finally started to get comfortable.

No matter the age, inexperience or matchup, the Thunder is going to be the team that the Western Conference runs through. It’s hard to place exact expectations on a team with these circumstances, but as its proved all season long, you can’t count it out.

2. OKC has Depth

Although the playoffs tend to be the time for coaches to shorten the rotation, Oklahoma City certainly has the depth to last in the playoffs.

Due to the circumstances of a depleted Dallas lineup, the Thunder starters hardly had to play to secure one of the biggest blowout victories of the year. That allowed the bench unit to step in and do most of the damage, scoring 85 of the 135 total points.

Wiggins’ 14 points led the way for the bench, followed up by Ousmane Dieng’s 13, Wallace and Lindy Waters III’s 12. Wiggins and Wallace will certainly be the top pieces that come off the bench, but Dieng and Waters showed the potential to make an impact, even if the possibility is far more unlikely.

Teams never want to think about the possibility of their top players getting injured in the playoffs, but it can happen at anytime. If Gilgeous-Alexander fell it would be a much different story, but if players lower on the ladder came down with an injury, Oklahoma City would have plenty of options to retain the same production.

3. Potential First Round Matchups

Even though the Thunder has the No. 1 seed locked up, it won’t know its first round matchup until after the Play-In Tournament.

The four teams featured in the tournament in order are the New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. It includes teams that have previous playoff experience with superstar talent, so no matter the matchup, it won’t be a cakewalk for Oklahoma City.

As great as the Thunder has been throughout the entire season, it doesn’t have a player with the legendary status as a LeBron James or Stephen Curry. Those players alone can pose a serious challenge, even if their rosters are relatively weaker all-around. It certainly has the capability of beating those four teams, but it may not be as much of a shock if it fell in the first round.

Oklahoma City will set it eyes on its opponent after Friday, when the Play-In comes to a close.

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