OKC Thunder bring all-for-one mentality to NBA Finals

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault is planning for the challenge of slowing down the Indiana Pacers in a matchup of two of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) highest-scoring teams in the Finals starting with Game 1 on June 5 (June 6, Singapore time).

As he digs into the details, he knows that there is a difference between getting a feel of the opponents and the opponents making sure you feel them.

“We aren’t inventing anything this week. They pump a 99mph (160kmh) fastball at you, and you can prepare all you want for that. But when you’re in the batter’s box, it’s different when it’s time to hit. It’s going to be a very tall challenge,” Daigneault, 40, said.

Oklahoma City feature two top on-ball defenders who will share the chore of shadowing Pacers All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton. He averaged 18.8 points and a leading 9.8 assists in the play-offs to reach the Finals and is the engine of a revving offence capable of attacking from many angles.

Luguentz Dort defended Haliburton in two regular-season matchups, both Thunder wins, and limited him to averages of 11 points and 5.5 assists.

While the Thunder feature the NBA’s leading scorer and Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the mentality of winning with defence and succeeding as a team are more than words to this young roster.

“Staying true to who we are is the reason we are here. We’d be doing ourselves a disservice to change or be something we are not once we got here,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

“If we want to keep having success, we have to be who we are. It’s organic, so it’s nothing we have to think about or force. It’s who we are no matter the moment.”

Gilgeous-Alexander will get the majority of the attention from the Pacers’ defence, but forward Chet Holmgren said Oklahoma City have seen plenty of that approach and are prepared for what is to come. The Thunder also claim they truly do not care how the points get on the board in Game 1 or beyond, as long as the team are putting up wins.

“I’d say the biggest thing is playing for each other. And the type of guys we have here,” Holmgren said.

“If you ask anybody, everybody is going to tell you they are a winner. We have a team with 17 winners. They’re going to put winning at the top of the totem pole over anything else, really. Does that mean you are guaranteed to win every single night? No. But when that’s the main focus, you aren’t working towards anything else, then you are able to chase that (outcome) better than if you had a different perspective on it.”

Perspective might be a challenge early in the series.

Daigneault is up against Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who guided the Dallas Mavericks to the 2011 NBA title, with a group of 20-somethings in the Finals for the first time. He reminded his team to walk into the home arena grateful and was not afraid to reflect on the magnitude of the moment.

“Every single person that’s participating in this... whether it’s coaches, players, staff, there was a time in their life when this was just a dream,” Daigneault said.

“That’s every player that’s participating. There was a time they were in their driveway shooting, one on zero, with a basket counting down the end of the game. That’s what makes it so special to be part of. We’re all very humbled and grateful to be a part of it.”

Meanwhile, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said that the 2026 NBA All-Star Game will feature a “US-versus-the-World” format.

The move comes after last February’s revamped tournament-style format with celebrity-picked rosters was seen as a flop by players and drew relatively low US television ratings.

Asked on Fox Sports about having a US-against-the-world format for the elite-level contest, the first word out of Silver’s mouth was “Yes”. REUTERS, AFP