Thunder are growing up, and that has been a difference-maker
OAKLAND, Calif. — It was early March and Kevin Durant was sitting with his head tilted down in front of his locker, rubbing the side of his face.
“They were disciplined, we weren’t,” Durant said. “We want to be a great team. We’re fooling ourselves. If we just want to be a great team, the way we’re playing, we’re fooling ourselves. We want to win a bunch of games in the regular season, that’s cool, but we’re fooling ourselves with the way we’re playing.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder had blown a 17-point fourth-quarter lead on the road to the Los Angeles Clippers, and it was rock bottom for their season. A few days before, Stephen Curry had hit the half-court shot heard ’round the world, stealing a game the Thunder led by four with 14 seconds remaining. It was a downward spiral they were trapped in, with lost leads, lapses in focus and plenty of questions. Opposing coaches around the league quietly echoed Durant’s assessment: The Thunder were too wild to be taken seriously.
Fast-forward two and a half months and here the Thunder sit, up 1-0 on the Golden State Warriors after an impressive 108-102 takedown in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night. The Thunder trailed by as many as 14 and had to endure what appeared to be two back-breaking Curry 3s in the third quarter, one from near the half-court logo and another leaning on the wing that banked in. The Thunder didn’t blink. Instead, they dug in.
It has been a remarkable transformation for the Thunder, but one that has been accomplished through painstaking attention to detail and unwavering confidence. The Thunder teetered on the edge of their season falling apart, losing eight of 12 after the All-Star break, while also enduring several tragedies. (In a span of one month, assistant coach Monty Williams’ wife died in a car accident, minority owner Aubrey McClendon died and Dion Waiters‘ brother was shot and killed in Philadelphia.) The team never used anything off the court as an excuse, but their play reflected it. This was a team with its mind somewhere else.
“They needed to go through a difficult time to find out what they had to do and what we had to do to become and try to pursue reaching our fullest potential,” coach Billy Donovan said. “It took time. It was really up and down. It was rocky.
“I think going through some of that stuff after the All-Star break probably has helped us grow and become more resilient and tougher. I think when you get in those competitive situations you get scarred up and wounded, and you build some resolve. It’s not always easy. When it gets hard, you have to understand how to push through it. And those guys, I think, have done a really good job with that.”
During those struggles, Donovan talked about the benefits of adversity.
“This is great for our team. This is great. They need to keep coming,” Donovan said after that Clippers loss in March.
Even going back to training camp, the message from the front office was not to obsess over what it looked like at the time. It was to think about what it could look like. “Continual improvement” was the idea, to use the regular season as an extended study session to prepare for the exam of the postseason.
The Thunder are still a young team — the average age of their rotation players is under 25. A large portion of the roster hadn’t experienced the postseason, or at least very little of it. They’re following behind Durant and Russell Westbrook, the elder statesmen at the old age of 27, but veterans of many playoff battles before.
They’re leading by example, showcased by their reaction following what appeared to be a monumental achievement in Game 1. The Thunder walked off the floor with little fanfare, and took to the podium to reinforce that.
“I mean, what’s to celebrate? We didn’t win the championship,” Durant said. “We’re playing in the Western Conference finals against a great team. We got a W the first Game 1, but there is a lot of basketball to be played, so we can’t be too excited. It was a good win for us, but we’re not going to be jumping up and down, chest-bumping on the court. We’ve got a lot more basketball to play.”
The other thing: The Thunder felt disrespected for most of the season, with all the focus in the West locked (rightfully) on the Spurs and Warriors. They could be tempted to mention that, to pop that chip on their shoulder, but instead they’re focused forward.
“Just got to maintain humility, mate,” Steven Adams said. “It’s a series. I mean, we came away with a win [on Monday] but we’ve just got to be ready. We can’t be satisfied. That’s all it is, mate.”
A significant part of Donovan’s target this season was trying to reel in the combustible emotions of the Thunder. They had a habit in the past of being baited into mano a mano mind games with opponents, swinging for wild haymakers instead of staying solid, and letting referees disrupt their focus. But the Thunder dropped their technical fouls significantly this season. It’s the first time they haven’t had a player in the top 10 since 2010. That’s a seemingly small thing, but it’s an example of the growth and developing maturity of the team. A couple of bad calls, ugly turnovers and clutch shots from Curry didn’t shake them. They just keep playing.
Now, here’s the hard part. The Thunder might be tempted to bask in the light of what they’ve done the past two weeks. That’s three straight road wins — two in San Antonio, one in Oakland — against two teams that had lost three times combined on their home floors this season. Prosperity is dangerous and the Thunder have gotten to this point by being focused. There’s a way to get better, a way forward. That starts with the next play, and that’s it.
“It’s a long series, man,” Waiters said. “Don’t want to get too happy over one win.”
