Remember back in the early days of Thunder contention? Oklahoma’s NBA team had a flaw. Too much reliance on one-dimensional players.
Andre Roberson. Enes Kanter. Thabo Sefolosha. Anthony Morrow. Kendrick Perkins. Kevin Martin. Not enough players adept on both ends of the court.
Such guys are hard to find. They’re in short supply. That didn’t necessarily cost the Thunder an NBA championship. But it sure didn’t help.
Fast forward to 2025, to this eve of the NBA Finals. Two-way players are the Thunder’s calling card.
The Thunder’s top seven players are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein and Cason Wallace. On defense, those seven range from all-NBA to really good. On offense, those seven range from all-NBA to perfectly fine.
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The weakest link? Maybe Wallace’s offense, which still has been an instigator, in fast breaks and occasional 3-pointers.
The old NBA adage that in the playoffs, you play eight and trust seven? Mark Daigneault seems to trust seven but plays more than eight. He sprinkles in Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe, offensive-plus players, then trots out defense-first Jaylin Williams for Denver duty and Kenrich Williams to tackle the Timberwolves.
And thus we’ve uncovered the Thunder’s secret sauce and why OKC is such a heavy favorite to secure the NBA championship sometime in the next fortnight. This Thunder team can play a variety of ways. Big or small. Fast or slow. Pack the paint and/or pressure high. Launch from deep and/or attack the basket.
I intended to preview the Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals with an analysis of the matchups. Except I don’t know what the matchups will be. I assume Dort will start off guarding Pacer point guard Tyrese Haliburton, but Wallace will take over soon enough, then perhaps Caruso, if he’s not needed to dog Pascal Siakam, after Williams or even Holmgren take their turn.
That’s the thing. This Thunder team is so versatile, it goes three and four deep at options for Indiana’s prime players, all without sacrificing offense.
The Wednesday ScissorTales look at the Southeastern Conference’s newest effort to stop field-rushing, salute the Cowgirl who just won the U.S. Open and explain why the Women’s College World Series bracket is superior to the baseball counterpart in Omaha. But we start with the Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals.
Here are five matchup questions that will determine whether the Pacers can pull off a big upset.
Pacers Knicks Basketball
Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard shot 29.1% from 3-point range during the regular season but has shot 48.3% during the playoffs. Adam Hunger, Associated Press
Can Chet Holmgren guard Andrew Nembhard?
I don’t expect the Thunder to use its two-big lineup much against Indiana. No reason to. But if the Thunder can get away with putting the 7-foot-1 Holmgren on the 6-foot-5 Nembhard, the benefits are immense.
Nembhard shot 29.1% from 3-point range during the regular season but has shot 48.3% during the playoffs. That’s a huge improvement. If Nembhard reverts, Holmgren would be free to roam and protect the rim, and OKC could hammer Indiana in rebounding.
The Thunder’s playoff foes — Memphis, Denver, Minnesota — all are strong rebounding teams. Indiana is not. Hartenstein and Holmgren could dominate the boards, if Daigneault can find a matchup for Holmgren.
Can Ben Sheppard offer Nembhard some relief in guarding Gilgeous-Alexander?
Nembhard is a quality defender — he gave Jalen Brunson fits in the Knickerbocker series — but will need some help off the bench. Can Sheppard supply it? The 6-foot-6, 23-year-old is a reputed good defender.
Foul trouble rarely bothers the Pacers. But foul trouble could sink the Pacers, and SGA is a foul-magnet.
Can the Pacers take advantage of their lone size advantage?
Indiana has a couple of true forwards, in 6-foot-8 Siakam and 6-foot-9 Obi Toppin. The Thunder’s forwards really are wings (Jalen Williams, Caruso) or the unicorn Holmgren.
The Thunder held up quite well against forwards Jaren Jackson (Memphis) and Julius Randle (Minnesota). Not quite as well against Aaron Gordon (Denver). If Siakam and Toppin don’t wound the Thunder, it’s hard to imagine a Pacer victory.
Timberwolves Thunder Basketball (copy)
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards is double-teamed by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) and forward Jalen Williams. Williams was All-Defensive second team this season. Nate Billings, Associated Press
Can Haliburton get to the basket?
The longer the Denver and Minnesota series lingered, the more the Thunder double-teamed Jokic and Anthony Edwards, with a blitz of Jokic and hedging the gaps on Edwards drives. The Thunder isn’t likely to resort to that tactic early in the series against Haliburton.
Seems likely that OKC will rely on Dort and Wallace and Caruso to stay in front of Haliburton. If Haliburton doesn’t get to the basket for his patented rainbow layups or nifty passes to teammates, he’s not likely to find open teammates. Counting on beating Lu Dort doesn’t seem like a good strategy, but it might be the best the Pacers have.
Can Siakam guard Jalen Williams?
Siakam generally has been a quality NBA defender, particularly with some rim protection and helping off the ball. But can he stay in front of Williams if required? Assuming Siakam will start out on Holmgren, but Daigneault often goes with a small lineup early, which might necessitate Siakam on Williams.
Williams became a beast in the Minnesota series, averaging 22.2 points on 49.4% shooting. If Siakam doesn’t hold up against Williams, the Thunder will go all-out small and attack the basket relentlessly.
Enjoy the Finals. This is going to be fun.
SEC ups ante on field-rushing
The Southeastern Conference has scrapped its system of escalating fines for schools whose celebrating fans rush the field or storm the court. But the SEC has scrapped only the escalating part.
First-time offenders now will be fined $500,000 per incident.
“The motivation was ‘field rushing is field rushing, the first time or the 18th time,’” commissioner Greg Sankey said last week during SEC spring meetings in Miramar Beach, Florida. “The random nature of, if you’re the one getting rushed, it doesn’t feel good. It might be the first time (it happened) there, but it might be your sixth time in a row, literally.”
The SEC has had a stairstep plan, with $100,000 for the first offense, $250,000 for the second offense and finally $500,000.
But that failed to halt field-rushing, often when Alabama football loses on the road, such as last season at OU and Vanderbilt, and at Tennessee in 2022.
The SEC, rightfully so, fears some kind of physical interaction between frustrated athletes or coaches and delirious or intoxicated fans. Which would create a mess unfixable even for Sankey.
The fines are designed to force school administrators to find solutions. To some schools, $100,00 is a small price to pay for an historic celebration. But half a million dollars is entirely different.
The best plan is an organized field-rushing after the opponent has departed for the locker room. Some have suggested a countdown, with thousands of fans chanting the numbers in unison. That would create a communal celebration leading up to the land run, perhaps not as organic, but still potentially satisfying for the masses.
The SEC has said it will waive the fines if the visiting team and officiating crew are able to leave the gridiron before the fans invade.
The penalties can be quite taxing. Vanderbilt was fined thrice last season, the final two after basketball games, and the penalties added up to $850,000.
“We try to set some expectations to the fan base of ‘We’ll welcome your celebration, but let’s let the team from the visiting institution and the officials depart,’” Sankey said.
The SEC fines eventually will work. The rising costs of doing business in this pay-for-play era means schools will be more innovative in policing the field-rushing.
It’s not easy to contain thousands of people acting as a virtual mob. But professional sports had a huge problem with court-storming and field-rushing, particularly the NBA and Major League Baseball. But those sports worked with law enforcement agencies to educate/threaten fan bases, to establish a culture where it was not tolerated. The same can happen in college sports.
Stark brings Cowgirls another major
Despite all its glorious tradition, OSU men’s golf has produced just one major champion, Bob Tway, who won the 1986 PGA Championship. And now OSU women’s golf has doubled that.
Former Cowgirl Maja Stark of Sweden won the U.S. Open over the weekend, joining Pernilla Lindberg, also a Swede, who won the 2018 Chevron Championship (previously called the Dinah Shore).
The 25-year-old Stark entered Sunday with a one-stroke lead at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin, then shot an even-par 72 to win by three strokes over Nelly Korda and Rio Takeda. Stark finished 7-under par.
The win was Stark’s first U.S. victory, adding to her six Ladies European Tour titles.
Stark spent two years at OSU before turning pro. She was first-team all-American and Big 12 player of the year in 2021, when the Cowgirls finished as national runnerup, losing to Ole Miss in the NCAA championship match. That season, Stark broke the program’s season stroke-average record (70.48).
The List: Canadians in the NBA
These NBA Finals have a decided Canadian twist. Each team has two Canadians in prominent roles — the Thunder’s Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort, the Pacers’ Nembhard and Ben Mathurin. Dort said he’s been playing against Nembhard since they were 13 or 14 years old. Dort said Mathurin is “kind of like a brother to me,” since both were raised in the same Montreal neighborhood.
Canada is the NBA’s biggest supplier of international players. Here are the 25 Canadians who were in the NBA this season, ranked by status:
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder: The reigning most valuable player.
2. Jamal Murray, Nuggets: Fourth straight year scoring over 20 points a game.
3. Andrew Wiggins, Heat: Eleven seasons as a major scorer, including 19.0 in 2024-25.
4. Luguentz Dort, Thunder: First-team all-defense and a 41.2 percent 3-point shooter.
5. R.J. Barrett, Raptors: Averaged 21.1 points this season.
6. Dillon Brooks, Rockets: Mercurial, but a defensive dynamo who averaged 14.0 points and shot 39.7 from deep.
7. Ben Mathurin, Pacers: Averaging 16.1 points a game for Indiana.
8. Shaedon Sharpe, Blazers: Made 52 starts and averaged 18.5 points.
9. Andrew Nembhard, Pacers: Indiana’s best defender and averaged 10.0 points.
10. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Timberwolves: Gilgeous-Alexander’s cousin is a quality defender who averaged 9.4 points.
11. Chris Boucher, Raptors: Averaged 10.0 points this season.
12. Brandon Clarke, Grizzlies: Injuries starting to derail Clark’s career, but he averaged 8.3 points in 64 games.
13. Kelly Olynyk, Pelicans: Still valuable as a big who can shoot (41.8 percent from deep this season).
14. Zach Edey, Grizzlies: 7-foot-4 giant averaged 9.2 points as a rookie this season.
15. Trey Lyles, Kings: Long-time role player still in the Sacramento rotation.
16. Corey Joseph, Magic: 14-year career is winding down.
17. Dalano Banton, TrailBlazers: Averaged 8.3 points in 67 games this season.
18. A.J. Lawson, Raptors: Averaged 9.1 points in 26 games.
19. Dwight Powell, Mavericks: Fashioned an 11-year career as a dependable backup big man.
20. Caleb Houstan, Magic: Averaged 4.1 points.
21. Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Mavericks: Averaged 3.9 points.
22. Tristan Thompson, Cavaliers: Averaged eight minutes a game in his 13th NBA season.
23. Leonard Miller, Timberwolves: Played in 13 games.
24. Jackson Rowe, Warriors: Played in six games.
25. Emanuel Miller, Bulls: Played in six games.
Mailbag: Switching brackets
The Women’s College World Series’ bracket always provides an interesting format twist that not all fans understand.
Larry: “I read your comments about the seedings. One thing to remember about this tournament is that they switch two teams across to the other, four-team, double elimination side, in the middle of the week. It is confusing, especially to the casual fan, but I believe it adds some fairness to the pairings, and a little jazz, besides.”
Berry: I agree. The two teams that win in the first round, then lose in Round 2, switch to the other side of the bracket. I like the format, because it makes the bracket one tournament. The Men’s College World Series does not switch teams, which basically means Omaha is two separate tournaments, with the winners meeting. I like the women’s format better, which from the outset means any two teams could meet either before the championship series or in the championship series.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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