Why isn’t playoff inexperience holding OKC back as people claimed?

[NYPiston]

I think the inexperience point was a valid one, lots of times young teams have to go through a painful process of moving up the playoff ladder over years before they reach the top.

Also, not to take too much away from OKC as I'm a big fan of their group and they're really good but they beat a shorthanded Pels team and it's only been 1 game against Dallas so there's still have some playoff proving to do to dispel the inexperience argument. They look damn good though, nobody can argue that.

[Enso]

It's still early lets wait and see what happens

[KGtabake]

They're still the underdogs.
Dallas has one star with championship experience in Kyrie who also happens to play the best ball of his career since he's concentrated strictly on the game.
So even if we say that SGA=Luka, the star power (which always plays a big role on the big stage) is on Dallas side.
Let's wait.

[WestbrookGOATed]

because it's game 1, relax. Dallas always loses game 1 and rebounds well after as history has shown. OKC definitely has a bright future tho and the jury is still out this year so we'll see.

It’s not about 1 game. It’s about their two way dominance over the last nearly 90 games. They won’t do this nightly but I’ll be surprised if Dallas goes to 6.

So you think OKC beats Dallas 4-1?

I do. Dallas gets one at home and OKC finishes it off at home in game 5. I don't see the Mavs, or anyone really, beating the Thunder at home.

[Papi_swav]

It’s not about 1 game. It’s about their two way dominance over the last nearly 90 games. They won’t do this nightly but I’ll be surprised if Dallas goes to 6.

So you think OKC beats Dallas 4-1?

I do. Dallas gets one at home and OKC finishes it off at home in game 5. I don't see the Mavs, or anyone really, beating the Thunder at home.

So in your opinion OKC is winning the chip

[Bornstellar]

They played an injured team in the first round missing their best player and have won one game in the second round against the 4th seed. Just wait until they face some actual adversity and we'll see how they respond

5th seed.

Even worse

So there ya go. They beat up a flawed and injured team in round one and have won one game against the 5th seed in round two. They certainly are playing well but we need to pump the brakes a bit because they haven't even been tested yet. If they end up beating Dallas, they were certainly feel that test against Minny or Denver.

Like I said the other day in another thread, I remember the Spurs winning 10 straight games to start the 2012 playoffs only to ultimately lose in the WCF and people were proclaiming them the GOAT team before they lost 4 in a row. Point is, things can change very quickly, and we shouldn't assume a team is unbeatable or remarkable because they won 5 games in a row

[TheBullsDynasty]

Why does people saying OKC is an inexperienced team bother you? It's the truth, and their inexperience might hold them back in these playoffs. It's a generalization based on past data. We've seen it time after time.

This, in no way, a guarantee that an inexperienced team like OKC will experience issues in the playoffs. They might or might not. There are always exceptions to the rule. Either way, I don't see a problem with being cautious, and saying a team is young, and let's see how they perform before we set high expectations.

Also, usually the moment gets too big for inexperienced players as the stakes get higher. The first round or even WCSFs hardly count as much in this case, especially because they were in a winning situation in all of their games. Let's see how they do in WCFs or the Finals if they can make it there. Let's see how they do when/if they go down in a series, or when they're facing elimination. Usually these are the moments that inexperience hurts you the most, not when you're up 20 in a game.

Lastly, if you want to see playoff inexperience holding a team back... check out the game 7 of the Cavs-Magic series.

Did you actually compare OKC who is the #1 seed in a stacked western conference to Orlando? Also there is no technical way in the western conference playoffs that OKC would have to play a Game Seven on the road.

Please don't quote my posts if you lack basic reading comprehension skills.

[Wingy]

Pure talent usually defeats cliches, and OKC can look at themselves as proof (KD/RWB/Harden).

There is however a certain told-you-so smugness from the OP that as a paranoid fan, I wouldn't risk. OKC can also look at themselves to prove that a stacked deck of youth and blindingly bright future can also crash down quickly.

[JonFromVA]

A young talented healthy team can certainly win playoff series, where it gets tricky is when going up against a veteran championship hardened team that's been playing together for years under a great coach and is likewise healthy.

Because there are currently only teams aspiring to reach that level, the playoffs have been pretty wide open since 2018.

[web123888]

It’ll be very difficult for them to win the series despite a dominant Game 1. Series will go just like the LAC series did.

Mavs in 6. OKC has no answer for Luka / Kyrie when they are shooting well and SGA’s and OKC’s in general lack of 3-point shooting will be costly.

This is a good example of how little folks have seen OKC despite them being the one seed.

OKC was the league's best three point shooting team this year. What are you talking about?

This is the playoffs, not the regular season. What are you talking about? You’ll find out in about a week.

[WestbrookGOATed]

So you think OKC beats Dallas 4-1?

I do. Dallas gets one at home and OKC finishes it off at home in game 5. I don't see the Mavs, or anyone really, beating the Thunder at home.

So in your opinion OKC is winning the chip

I mean it seems like a pretty good possibility at this point doesn't it? They're a better team than Dallas, Denver is getting schooled by Minny who has about the same odds as OKC. The Celtics are the only team in the east that should be a true favorite at this point.

[MoneyTalks41890]

It’ll be very difficult for them to win the series despite a dominant Game 1. Series will go just like the LAC series did.

Mavs in 6. OKC has no answer for Luka / Kyrie when they are shooting well and SGA’s and OKC’s in general lack of 3-point shooting will be costly.

This is a good example of how little folks have seen OKC despite them being the one seed.

OKC was the league's best three point shooting team this year. What are you talking about?

This is the playoffs, not the regular season. What are you talking about? You’ll find out in about a week.

They also have the best three point shooting percentage in the playoffs. 0/2.

[SK21209]

I think the overall point was that teams don't win a championship the first year their core makes the playoffs. I think the last one to do so was the 08 Celtics, before that I have no idea of the last time it had been done (I'm pretty sure every champ since 1980 had made the playoffs the year prior). So if I'm right that's once in 44 years, with the one time being a pretty unique case of trading for two veteran All-Stars in the same offseason.

[iggymcfrack]

I really think the Thunder are the best team in the West right now. Their recent performance is even better than Minnesota and while the team's young, they're perfectly built for playoff basketball. SGA's scoring resilience and turnover economy make him the lab built perfect player to dissect the Wolves defense. I think that matchup's actually very favorable for OKC and with homecourt, they're going to be very hard to beat.

As for Dallas, they had disadvantages all over the floor even if Luka was healthy. With him hobbling around with an injury that's not getting better with time at all, they're sunk. It's like the Nuggets if Jokic was hurt instead of Murray.

[whatisacenter]

I think the overall point was that teams don't win a championship the first year their core makes the playoffs. I think the last one to do so was the 08 Celtics, before that I have no idea of the last time it had been done (I'm pretty sure every champ since 1980 had made the playoffs the year prior). So if I'm right that's once in 44 years, with the one time being a pretty unique case of trading for two veteran All-Stars in the same offseason.

yeah, it would be pretty surprising if they won the title or even make it to the finals so quickly, but they are a super cohesive unit and I wouldn't count them out.

[iggymcfrack]

I think the overall point was that teams don't win a championship the first year their core makes the playoffs. I think the last one to do so was the 08 Celtics, before that I have no idea of the last time it had been done (I'm pretty sure every champ since 1980 had made the playoffs the year prior). So if I'm right that's once in 44 years, with the one time being a pretty unique case of trading for two veteran All-Stars in the same offseason.

Yeah, but how many teams miss the playoffs and then are this good the following season? Their top player made a massive leap from top 10 to become arguably the best player in the league. They have a rookie who fits perfectly and generates all-NBA level impact. And their just turned 23 year old who finished 2nd in ROY voting last year took such a leap he got votes for most improved player. It's an unprecedented confluence of talent coming together at once. It's not quite as unprecedented as adding Ray Allen and prime KG, but it's not as far off as you think.

[Lockdown504090]

Because they aren’t playing anybody.

[SK21209]

I think the overall point was that teams don't win a championship the first year their core makes the playoffs. I think the last one to do so was the 08 Celtics, before that I have no idea of the last time it had been done (I'm pretty sure every champ since 1980 had made the playoffs the year prior). So if I'm right that's once in 44 years, with the one time being a pretty unique case of trading for two veteran All-Stars in the same offseason.

Yeah, but how many teams miss the playoffs and then are this good the following season? Their top player made a massive leap from top 10 to become arguably the best player in the league. They have a rookie who fits perfectly and generates all-NBA level impact. And their just turned 23 year old who finished 2nd in ROY voting last year took such a leap he got votes for most improved player. It's an unprecedented confluence of talent coming together at once. It's not quite as unprecedented as adding Ray Allen and prime KG, but it's not as far off as you think.

Oh sure that's all true, although I think the massive leap for Shai was last year and this year the improvement was more incremental. They're an awesome team and yeah I can't think of anyone missing the playoffs and then being the 1 seed. I just think they're the 3rd most likely team to win it all right now, so if I had to guess I think the streak of teams not winning their first year in the playoffs holds up.

[BigGargamel]

Because playoff experience is overrated. It's a crutch people use when they don't want to predict non traditional teams to go far in the playoffs.

[damanick10]

Man I don't know if I can handle all these threads if OKC stays good for 10+ years