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Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Over the last three years, we’ve seen the Oklahoma City Thunder graduate from the young team that snuck up on contenders to contenders themselves that see opposition circle their date on the calendar well in advance.
As the Thunder finished with a historic 68-14 record, that target only grew. But it didn’t matter. They continued to be a winning machine. That translated over to the NBA playoffs as a Death Star that destroyed teams left and right en route to a 12-4 postseason record in the West.
The Thunder enter the 2025 NBA Finals as the heavy favorite. While the Indiana Pacers have been a cute story these playoffs, most expect a quick series. That said, Isaiah Hartenstein iterated that they can’t become complacent. What they did in the previous three rounds won’t matter at basketball’s biggest stage.
“I think in the playoffs, you always have to prove yourself again. We’re not a team that wants anything given to us. We want to go out and conquer, go out and hunt. For us, it doesn’t matter what happened before. It doesn’t matter even in a playoff series, it doesn’t matter what happened before,” Hartenstein said. “We’re always trying to go out there and try to hunt. Not be the hunted ones. Trying to go out there and hunt ourselves.”
It’ll be interesting to see Hartenstein’s role in the NBA Finals. While he was never benched, his playing time dwindled against the Minnesota Timberwolves. To the point he didn’t even start second halves in favor of smaller lineups with Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe.
The Pacers could force a similar predicament. They like to spray the ball out to the perimeter and have been one of the best outside shooting teams of the playoffs. Against a stretch big like Myles Turner, that could force the Thunder in an awkward situation where the seven-footer might get played off the floor. We’ll have to wait and see.
While everybody else can call this series over before Game 1 even tips off, the Thunder can’t let that enter their mindset. The Pacers made the NBA Finals for a reason, albeit from a worse conference. But OKC will need to leave it all on the floor if it wants to avoid one of the biggest upsets ever.
#conquer
