The NBA champion Thunder are a hymn to sports management. And to Shai's baskets
Photo Epa, via Ansa
to the basket
Oklahoma wins game 7 thanks to the usual Canadian, who thus closes a series of great basketball also thanks to the Pacers. The question remains: how would it have ended if Haliburton had not been injured right at the most beautiful moment?
The hour has struck for the Oklahoma City Thunder . Beautiful and victorious, for the first time in NBA history, until the end of a spectacular series, resolved in a game 7 that however cries out for revenge. It would be misleading to say that the fight for the ring ended with the change of pace of Tyrese Haliburton, injured in the first quarter in the cruelest way that the Finals remember: even then, stripped of their leader, the Indiana Pacers fought with the impressive tenacity that brought them one step away from the title, coming back to -10 with a few minutes to go. Coach Carlisle's boys had accustomed us to even more unthinkable comebacks, during these playoffs. This time, however, the gas had run out. And on the other side there was a team ready, focused, finally able to detonate all its offensive potential - second half with 66 points - without looking back. It was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's night . It could have been – in a big what if of a blown Achilles tendon – a no less extraordinary Haliburton's.
“I can’t imagine playing the most important game of my life and seeing something like this happen to me,” the Canadian expressed solidarity with his opponent. “It’s not fair. But sports are unfair, sometimes.” So the party is all for the Thunder, who consecrate a triumphant year – detonated by the best record in the regular season – with a trophy never achieved in the short history of the franchise (if you don’t consider the title of the Seattle SuperSonics, from whom they took over the basketball legacy in 2008). Shai, Holmgren and Jalen Williams have succeeded where the big three of the past – Durant, Harden and Westbrook, in 2012 – had stopped. Even if today is above all the apotheosis of the point guard, author of an anthology post-season: 30 points split per game, 205 free throws on the scoresheet. Levels of production never seen before, symptom of an MVP who is simply unstoppable.
The other great architect of Oklahoma's success is Sam Presti. A general manager by profession, capable of building the team of the future - it wasn't necessarily today, that the Thunder had to win - thanks to a long combination of shrewd technical moves . Starting with the draft, from which both Holmgren and Williams come. Not only that: for the next six years, the Thunder have guaranteed themselves 45 picks in the bizarre NBA lottery (more than any other team). Which means having their hands on emerging talent at the lowest possible cost, with a competitive advantage that is difficult to counter without enormous economic efforts. In essence, while the Lakers and other more high-profile franchises take the spotlight - read Luka Doncic -, OKC is creating a roster that is potentially capable of starting a cycle .
It's a way of playing basketball not unlike what we saw in Indiana, which reached the final against all odds and the opponent's prestige. Even in the final act, everyone considered the Pacers to be big underdogs. Yet they surrendered only 4-3, in the aforementioned circumstances. And with the additional regret of not having previously mortgaged the series: in game 4 they had the opportunity to take a 3-1 lead, leading in the decisive point by point - their specialty - until Shai invented the champion's basket, tainted however by more than a few suspicious movements (offensive foul plus steps), which the indulgent NBA refereeing did not think to sanction. It's always the details that make the difference. Without bothering the punishment of fate on Haliburton, who yesterday became the third player wearing the number zero jersey - after Lillard and Tatum - to rupture his Achilles tendon in these playoffs. More than a curse, three all too clear proofs of the unsustainable physical load required by the exhausting NBA schedule. Let's hope we don't need more.
Honorable mention for two hidden protagonists of these Finals: on one side Alex Caruso, on the other TJ McConnell, synonymous with what it means to be decisive in basketball without having been kissed by pure talent. The quality and youth of Oklahoma prevailed, but the entire NBA noticed the Indiana method . Game by heart, total tactical clarity, strong defense and restarts: Tyrese and these Pacers will return . It may not have been the series of big names - not even Shai, compared to Jokic or LeBron, enjoys global popularity. And the response from the public proves it, with the lowest numbers in recent years for television audience and interaction on social media. Yet it was probably the most beautiful challenge of this same period, capable of bringing basketball back to the center of the scene. Between joys, regrets and the bitter taste in the mouth for a game 7 that deserved to be resolved on equal terms. Both the losers and the winners agree on this.
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