Bill Haisten
If the Thunder ends an amazing season by blowing a home-court opportunity to capture the NBA championship, I’m going to feel sick for the organization personnel I’ve gotten to know since the team moved from Seattle in 2008.
I would feel sick also for several Tulsa-area friends who for 17 seasons have consistently, dutifully driven down the Turner Turnpike for Thunder games.
As a matter of fact, I already feel a little sick because I have no idea what to expect in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — a 7 p.m. Sunday spectacle in downtown Oklahoma City and perhaps the most internationally consumed event ever to have occurred on Oklahoma soil.
Have you seen the ticket prices?
Pick an adjective and it fits.
These prices are shocking. They are stupid. They are outlandish. As of late Saturday afternoon, the cost on StubHub for a pair of Game 7 tickets ranged from $8,787 to $958.
People are also reading…
Where exactly are those $958 seats located? If there weren’t a roof on the Paycom Center, you might see the Muskogee water tower from those $958 seats.
The Indiana Pacers have been the underdog in 17 of their 22 playoff games, and yet here they are — one victory away from splashing championship champagne all over the Paycom Center’s visiting-team locker room.
The Thunder has been favored in each of its 22 playoff games — and is favored by 7½ points on Sunday night — and yet OKC seems wobbly and vulnerable. The Thunder was terrible during Thursday’s Game 6 loss at Indiana.
The final score — 108-91 — didn’t really tell the story, and the word “terrible” is an understatement.
OKC is one stumble away from being remembered as a failure at the finish line of an otherwise historically phenomenal season.
The 1988 OU Sooners clearly were the best team in college basketball. They averaged 103 points per game. OU twice defeated Kansas during the regular season. Before the rematch in the national championship game, the Sooners were favored by eight points.
The sixth-seeded, 11-loss Jayhawks — the “Danny and The Miracles” Jayhawks — limited the usually potent Sooners to 29 second-half points and won 83-79. I can only imagine how devastated the OU fans must have felt after that game.
The Thunder is the one team that everyone in Oklahoma can rally around. Most OU people aren’t going to applaud Oklahoma State success, just like most OSU people love to see OU lose in any situation.
As the Thunder unites the whole state, the collective disappointment in a Game 7 loss would be greater than there’s ever been for any sporting event ever conducted in Oklahoma or that involved an Oklahoma team or person.
For nearly eight months, Oklahoma City has been the NBA’s best team. There was a 68-14 regular-season record. There was an end-of-season margin of 16 games over the next-best team (Houston) in the Western Conference standings.
OKC was 29-1 against opponents from the Eastern Conference. OKC was 2-0 against the Indiana Pacers.
The Most Valuable Player Award went to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. SGA and Jalen Williams were All-Stars. There was consistently remarkable defense, league records and a deep, strong bench.
During the first round against Memphis, Oklahoma City rallied from a 29-point deficit to prevail in Game 3.
Against Denver in the Western Conference semifinals, OKC lost at home in Game 1 and responded with a gutsy Game 4 road win and a Game 7 blowout of the Nuggets at the Paycom Center.
During the Minnesota series, the Thunder recovered from a 42-point embarrassment in Game 3.
In the Finals, the Pacers stole a Game 1 win in Oklahoma City and delivered a psychological mugging in Game 6.
What the heck happened in Game 6? I actually believed Oklahoma City would rise to the occasion and win that night, and perhaps win by 15 points.
Has the Thunder identity suddenly crumbled? Has its mojo dissolved?
Is this like Eddie Murphy’s “Nutty Professor”? Has the Thunder magic potion worn off, and these guys have reverted to being Sherman Klump instead of Buddy Love?
This does concern me: A trophy was on the line in two games so far this season, and OKC was 0-2 in those games.
In the finals of the NBA Cup in-season tournament, the Thunder played poorly and lost 97-81 to Milwaukee.
On Thursday, there was a chance to close out the Pacers. At the end of the third period — as OKC’s starters were 1-of-13 on 3-pointers — Indiana led by 30 points.
This stressful marathon of an NBA postseason began two months and two days ago. The result in Oklahoma: a must-watch, must-win Game 7 for the NBA title, with a pair of nosebleed seats available for $958.
0 Comments
Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!