OKC squeezes past Golden State in playoff-like finale
LATE FRIDAY: THUNDER 138, WARRIORS 136 (OT)
As the three gravitated toward each other, their franchise forefathers smiled.
The moment Chet Holmgren pivoted from a monumental and-one in overtime of the Thunder's 138-136 win over the Warriors, Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander met him with fire in their eyes.
Williams flattened his stance, letting out a primal scream to the Heavens. SGA drummed his fist across Holmgren's bony torso. The veins in Holmgren's neck protruded past his chest.
Somewhere in distant worlds, Kevin Durant and James Harden recognized that moment. That feeling. They had one of their own immortalized by a Pizza Rolls reference.
It came after a couple classic Stephen Curry shots; Three clutch Holmgren free throws; A final stretch palmed by the young hands of Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander. Inside the Paycom Center's deafening walls, the young Thunder realized that postseason feeling as much as a regular season game might allow.
And they wound up with a moment to frame it with.
“It was fun to be able to yell with the guys,” Williams said. “Shai don't ever yell, so if he's yelling, I'm gonna start screaming, for sure. Same thing with Chet. That was fun.”
Added Holmgren: “You can tell that everybody on the court really wanted to win that game, and that's just kind of a visualization of it.”
Oklahoma City's fourth and final regular season installment against the Golden State Warriors came courtesy of Adam Silver's darling in-season project. Sure, Las Vegas is cool. But somewhere in the Southwest, what should've been an exhausting fourth meeting featured all the elements of a playoff series.
Signature moments from Curry, who posted 34 points, six rebounds and drilled six 3-pointers. The late and-one he let nearby fans know about. A heartfreezing 3 with 19 seconds in regulation.
Signature moments from SGA, whose 38-point, five-steal performance was meant for bright lights. As was Williams' 28-point eruption.
After four exhilarating bouts, would it be crazy to ask these two squads — a young team wheeling toward greatness and an elderly dynasty hoping to squeeze its remaining juice — to meet for seven more?
OKC trudged through its lack of shotmaking and constant whistles. Golden State skated by on early Curry and Klay Thompson shot making (the building caught flashbacks) before its turnovers gave the Thunder breathing room.
Of course the Thunder always had a chance to win a game it went 5 for 29 from 3 in. Of course the Warriors always had a chance to win a game in which they committed 29 turnovers, the most they've had in any game since Steve Kerr became head coach.
It's been the nature of the series, which OKC muscled out 3-1. And it's actually finished this time — at least maybe until April.
“It's two really good teams with really good players on both sides and a really good coaching staff on both sides,” Holmgren said. “Every single game came down to the wire it felt like. … It's high level basketball. It definitely resembles a playoff atmosphere, and the arenas and the energy was definitely there too.”
Friday brought back memories from SGA's not-so-distant days as a 20-yearold rookie for the Clippers. He didn't have to be told about what the Paycom Center, then Chesapeake Energy Arena, felt like.
"My first year when I was with the Clippers, it was insane in here," he said.
What did it feel like to Gilgeous-Alexander on Friday?
"The exact same."
Whoever mocked up the teams' schedules will have to live with the fact that NBA enjoyers — particularly fans of this series — will go months without the intensity this series produced. Without seeing Paycom replicate its response to Draymond Green's six fouls. Without a game that saw even a nine-point overtime lead nearly deemed unsafe.
Without the kind of games, the kind of back and forth, the kind of pressure, the anticipation that births moments like Holmgren's buzzer-beating regulation 3-pointer back in Golden State or his free throws on Friday.
Maybe the Thunder can live with that, though. It's Big Three's moment was practically framed.
Thunder’s Big Three planting its seeds
As the fourth quarter dwindled, Daigneault stared through Williams in a typical squint.
Williams' fingertips practically held flames, his touch all over the Thunder's late push to hold on for a win. After yet another late-game midrange pullup, Williams backpedaled past Daigneault, who began pacing himself.
The man of almost no emotions, of few reactions outside any that officials might evoke, stared blankly through his star sophomore forward. Deep inside, he knew what was happening.
“It's almost like he got more energy as it went on,” Daigneault said of Williams. “... He expends so much energy yelling after we get a stop, and yet he's got the juice to continue to guard.”
Williams delivered his own scoring masterclass, a tape of so many left side middy pullups that it all blended together. He's often been tabbed as the team's necessary primary initiator in non-SGA lineups, finding that balance between scoring and playmaking for others. With Friday's game on the line, he connected at every turn.
“The first five minutes of the fourth were just as important as the first minutes of the game,” Williams said. “Taking that into mind, not really easing into the game.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has long been lifted as OKC's prized superstar. After a first quarter filled with midrange misses only he'd be allowed, he gradually found his way back to the two-way glow that's earned him MVP chants at Paycom a handful of times. Add Friday to the list.
And when his time came, Holmgren embraced the moment too. As a relatively quiet night unfolded for the rookie (he finished with 21 points, seven boards and three blocks), he reminded folks of the things that've helped him look like anything but a freshman.
He knocked down three free throws, gasps behind each of them while OKC's chances depended on them. He sank every one of them. The same way he sank his signature turnaround 3 at Chase Center weeks back.
“You can't really prepare for it before it happens,” Holmgren said. “… You don't know that Draymond is gonna foul me. You don't know that I'm gonna end up open off that play. You just have to be ready for whatever comes.”
The Thunder's young trio has answered the call more often than not.
Daigneault reaches coaching milestone
Amid all that'd transpired Friday night, coach Mark Daigneault had no idea the threshold he'd crossed.
And he didn't care to know. He'd actually downplayed the idea of his 100th career win as an NBA head coach all week. That didn't exactly change after the win.
“It feels like the 99th one,” he said. Daigneault wouldn't chime in on his milestone. It's unlike him. But his players sung his praises in a game where viewers could visibly see the freedom that comes with playing for him.
“It takes a lot of belief as a coach, for me to have the route I took, to get to the NBA and be able to just throw me out there and let me play,” Williams said. “So it's a big salute to him, just trusting, not only me but everybody.”
Added Gilgeous-Alexander: “He's been really open and honest. I think that's his best attribute.”