The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off their best season in the young history of their franchise by winning their first Larry O'Brien Trophy. To some, it wasn't a surprise to see the Thunder win it all, especially after their dominant regular season.
They earned the No. 1 overall seed throughout the playoffs with their 68-14 record. To demonstrate their dominance, they finished 16 games ahead of the No. 2-seeded Houston Rockets. After their first playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, some believed the Thunder would blaze through the playoffs.
Bennedict Mathurin
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) dribbles the ball against Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) during the 2025 NBA Finals.
© Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Lu Dort gets honest about Nuggets during Thunder's title run
While they made quick work of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, one team that gave the Thunder trouble along the way in the playoffs was the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets pushed the eventual champions to seven games and even had a chance to eliminate them from the playoffs altogether.
This is something that Thunder forward Lu Dort admitted, comparing it to when they were down to the Indiana Pacers.
"Denver Nuggets was the one that had us shaking a little bit," Dort said. "They won before and had been in that type of position."
Dort had this to say regarding Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers, when they were down 2-1.
"We were a little nervous," Dort said. "I'm gonna be honest, but we just knew that we could get it done."
The Thunder were overwhelming favorites to defeat the Pacers, so the Pacers pushing the series to seven games came as a shock to some. But once Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles, there was little doubt that the Thunder would pull it out, despite a late push from the Pacers.
The Thunder return much of their production from this championship team, and are overwhelming favorites to repeat as champions next season. They say repeating as champions is the hardest thing to do in team sports, and the Thunder will put that to the test in the upcoming season.