OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — The Thunder enviornment scoreboard could be the one one within the NBA which eschews typical field rating stats in change for offering attendees with 4 Elements, and an perception towards why the Thunder are what they roll.
The 4 Elements, an development coined within the final century by author (and former Seattle SuperSonics worker) Dean Oliver, are Efficient Area Objective Proportion, Turnover Proportion, Offensive Rebounding Proportion, and Free Throw Charge. The Thunder need their followers to find out about these marks forward of the continued sport’s uncooked field rating totals. Should you sought to find what number of precise turnovers T.J. McConnell had in Recreation 7, powerful luck, however the scoreboard does let you know every sport’s most pertinent percentages.
One can think about which proportion pops probably the most. The Indiana Pacers, fourth-best within the NBA in turnover charge in 2024-25 (11.8 %), have been routinely within the 20s all through the 2025 Finals, nearing 22 % in Recreation 7’s defeat. Typically the numbers closed as the competition moved alongside, witness Indiana’s Recreation 1 win and near-comeback in Recreation 5, however the level held. Anybody absorbing 4 Elements for the primary time would develop an concept of what was good (OKC’s turnover charge) and what was unhealthy (Indiana doubling, tripling and typically quadrupling the house crew’s determine).
The Thunder’s protection this season was the hanging. The very best the NBA’s seen in ages, actually its most devastating for the reason that Spurs and Pistons struck worry and dysfunction into opponents’ perpetually elements, not to mention the four-most vital. Cruelly, OKC’s most analogous previous-century kind reminds of the Gary Payton and George Karl-era Seattle SuperSonics. The Thunder, who moved to Oklahoma Metropolis in 2008 from Seattle, kinda are the Seattle SuperSonics, however not likely.
The prevailing concept that NBA commissioner Adam Silver will quickly (re-)reward Seattle with an growth franchise helps us point out the phrase “Seattle” within the first place, in any other case we’d omit discussing the misplaced franchise for worry of inflicting real harm to SuperSonics followers. The Sonics wuz stolen, no two methods about it, merciless irony for a crew routinely on the high of the leaderboard in steals.
Seattle needed to steal the ball as a result of it by no means had a middle. That’s the opposite tall irony on this Finals win, recognizing Oklahoma Metropolis with one spectacular tower, including one other, creating its breakthrough with two pivotmen at a time, two facilities striding to the championship podium postgame. Enviable luxurious to match to a SuperSonics crew which spent 32 years attempting to exchange All-Star middle Jack Sikma.
It wasn’t simply Jim McIlvaine, paid $3 million by Seattle in 1996-97 to push the defending Western champion SuperSonics excessive. Shawn Kemp was paid $3.3 million that season for Seattle and the distinction was a little too shut for Shawn, who was traded earlier than 1997-98 for Vin Baker. Baker was an influence ahead who received a playoff sequence beginning at middle, in order that labored for one spherical, till Shaq.
From there, the franchise went a-draftin’ for its bigs: Vladimir Stepania, Jelani McCoy, Nick Collison, Robert Swift, Johan Petro, Mouhamed Sene all earned first-round spherical picks (McCoy was chosen No. 33) from 1998 by 2006, solely certainly one of them labored out.
Nick Collison’s jersey is the one retired quantity hanging in Oklahoma Metropolis’s enviornment rafters. I stared at it for 4 Finals video games, I nonetheless can’t bear in mind his quantity.
Collison began 55 video games in ten seasons with the Thunder, by no means averaged double-figure factors, and he’s completely the avatar OKC wanted dangling over it: Collison moved his ft like few different defenders within the NBA, he communicated and disrupted. He was every thing the Thunder tries to be in 2025.
Now? OKC is replete with bigs: Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. Jalen Williams is a 2020s-styled energy ahead but the Thunder push him out to the wing, the place J-Dub usually revealed Pacer small ahead Aaron Nesmith to be extra of a small taking pictures guard.
The fashionable Thunder are remarkably pliant. Not like a Tom Thibodeau outfit, the group owns the dynamism sufficient to adapt, solely sometimes implement. With lineups, with efforts, with execution, it’s all up within the air as to how they’ll cease this, however they may cease this.
Need some above the break threes? They don’t care. Have to work the ball inside? Not their downside. Require spacing the ground, asking the ball to bop round? OKC isn’t right here that will help you make a reminiscence.
The Pacers have been launching from a stumble all through the Finals. So joyful to assemble the ball and not using a bobble or disruption that the Indiana driver’s physique and ball would transfer effectively earlier than the wheels began rolling. It takes a lot simply to efficiently meet and catch the go, something after post-accomplishment bliss, juice from the burger rolling down to chill your chin. By the point you meet the serviette, Lu Dort has the ball.
Indiana was the fifth-best crew at defending the ball within the 2024-25 common season, they turned it over 16 % of the time towards OKC, a mark that may rank final within the league by a large chunk. The Pacers labored in excessive humidity, a frightening dew level and a slippery basketball, whereas Oklahoma Metropolis’s rock felt bone-dry.
The final crew to trigger this a lot dampness? George Karl’s SuperSonics compelled a turnover in 18.1 % of possessions in 1993-94 (Orlando led the NBA this season with 15 %), made the Finals in 1996 inflicting turnovers on over 16 % of possessions.
The NBA hasn’t been as sticky since. Rick Pitino introduced a steal-seeking protection to his Celtics 1997 and was darn close to instantly chased out of the NBA. Boston turned groups over 19 % of the time in 1997-98 however ranked solely No. 16 defensively and different coaches observed. Elevated effectivity and quantity from behind the three-point arc, arguably, mollified a swiping and stealing crew’s finest likelihood at successful. The No-Stats All-Star period took maintain, groups went after contested makes an attempt and sure rebounds, not outright theft of possession.
Mark Daigneault’s Thunder didn’t set to remind of Seattle, coach merely works his benefit. His two-finest scorers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (No. 10), Jalen Williams (No. 9), rank extremely in steal charge, a Jordan-era Chicago Bulls-type boast. These Bulls by no means had a Cason Wallace (No. 3 in 2024-25 steal charge) springing off the bench, not to mention two facilities with top-16 (Hartenstein) and top-two (Holmgren) block charge.
That Indiana routinely penetrated OKC’s finest defensive efforts solely highlights the little that lacked. The inconsistent Thunder’s thirst for the jugular, an precise execution of that complete insouciant despoiler routine the gamers work on the podium postgame. So that they don’t like to point out their enamel till it’s time to chunk, so what?
They like one another. If they’ve an issue, they’ll commerce a first-round draft decide. In the event that they want to economize, they’ll use a first-round draft decide. If that draft decide doesn’t work out, Sam Presti at all times has second-rounders step up and into the rotation. Alex Caruso has but to show them concerning the foibles of repeating, and the Thunder (famously freed from alcohol till Sunday evening) have but to really feel a hangover. The ache that tells you it was value it.
Oklahoma Metropolis thought they’d earned a goal on their uniforms with final 12 months’s Western finals journey and so they have been mistaken, 2025-26 will present a problem in contrast to something in league historical past. The Thunder defending a precocious title that regardless of its twentysomething make use of didn’t come straightforward, ran all the best way to seven video games.
Sufficient legs to steal a back-to-back? Higher take a chair to the parade.
