It’s why we do this. What is this? Everything.
We were blessed with a Game 7. It’s the pinnacle of the best sport in the world. Two teams giving every ounce of energy trapped in their bodies to one 48-minute contest to hoist the one trophy that any hooper truly cares about. Don’t you dare nitpick or complain. This is the whole point.
Some stray thoughts from a tense, hard-fought, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant evening:
• First and foremost, get well soon, Tyrese Haliburton. He seemed to shake off the calf strain that hampered him in Game 5 and he looked much more Hali-like in Indiana’s dominant Game 6 win. His steal and no-look pass to a streaking Pascal Siakam is one of the most indelible highlights of this series. Early in Game 7, it looked like we might be witnessing one of those outrageous, flamethrowing Haliburton performances.
But that’s the thing about calf strains. They only get better with rest. They don’t improve with determination or grit or will or anything else. Rest. Only rest.
Haliburton was always going to play in Game 7. It wasn’t an option. He came out firing and he wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him by.
Until…ugh, it makes me sick to even think about it. Just…get well soon, Hali.
• Oklahoma City just posted one of the best seasons in the history of the NBA. This is a deserving champion, and they seem to be just getting started. Every key player outside of Alex Caruso is only slightly older than most college basketball teams, and GM Sam Presti has done a masterful job organizing salaries and capitalizing on draft picks.
Few teams in the history of the league play defense like this Thunder squad. They swarm, attack, suffocate. When OKC went on its title-clinching run toward the end of the third quarter, they turned into a five-headed boa constrictor, strangling the life out of the Hali-less Pacers. They won the title their way.
• I’ll never forget this Indiana team. NBA runners-up have a tendency to drift into a memory hole, occasionally being blown up before they can regroup/retool for another trip back to contend for the big prize. These Pacers are among the league’s most unlikely/inspiring stories and fully deserving of all the accolades. I love how this team plays. It hurts now, Pacers fans, but this is a once-in-a-generation run from a once-in-a-lifetime team. Good thing the Pacers are also positioned well to contend again in the near future (particularly in the downtrodden Eastern Conference).
• TJ McConnell…I’m just shaking my head, not even typing real words right now. I live in Tucson, and McConnell has turned into a bit of a cult figure around here. People are obsessed with his 8-foot jumpers he takes off two feet and barely squeaks over a would-be shotblocker. They love how many steals he gets just from recklessly diving into passing lanes. They love how long he keeps his dribble alive. He did his very best to keep the Pacers in it after Haliburton’s injury. He got around Cason Wallace anytime they were matched up – part of why McConnell looked so good in this series. Haliburton/Aaron Nembhard occupied OKC’s elite defenders, so McConnell could attack their very-good-if-inexperienced one. But anytime Caruso and (especially) Dort defended McConnell, forget it.
• Speaking of Dort, you can almost chart OKC’s winning percentage based on how well Dort shoots that moonball three. If he gets one or two to drop early, the Thunder become very difficult to handle. Those moonballs seem to take his already fearsome defensive ability to another even scarier level. It’s like giving Bowser one of Mario’s mushrooms. Dort completely shut down anyone he was in charge of defending. He was like a cornerback who roamed from receiver to receiver, suffocating a quarterback’s passing attack. Nobody in the NBA is a better individual defender than Lu Dort.
• Depth is the only mode for survival in today’s NBA. It used to be top-heavy star teams with cobbled-together benches, but that just won’t fly in today’s apron-heavy restrictions on team building. The squads that can fill their benches with several useful/versatile players are the ones who will survive late into June. Teams can no longer blow it on late-first-round picks or mid-level exceptions or trades on the fringes. Sure, stars still rule the day, but basketball is a team sport – now more than ever.
• Quick programming note: The NBA Draft is Wednesday/Thursday. Can you believe it? Since you’re reading this column on this particular website, you already know that. Elevator Doors HQ is shifting into full draft mode for the rest of the week, with a few more Situational Analysis pieces ready to go, as well as our Instant Analysis, reviewing every pick in real time. Buckle up!
