Five takeaways from the Thunder’s first win of the 2018 Playoffs
By Tony Heim
A Game One victory leads all of OKC Thunder Nation to believe this team truly might do something special these Playoffs.
Wow. It’s been a couple hours since the Oklahoma City Thunder soundly defeated one of the hottest teams in basketball, yet I’m still trying to process what I just witnessed. Carmelo Anthony was active on the defensive end for his full 37 minutes. OKC’s bench was outstanding. Even Billy Donovan coached a fantastic game.
Sunday night was simply the Thunder we expected to see all season.
Shots fell at an extreme rate as the team utilized each other to get open. The Paul George Show opened up an OKC offense that had struggled against some of the League’s top defenses all season, but this performance was about something more: confidence.
The Thunder played like a team that was supposed to be the better team. Other than the first few minutes (which we will get too), Oklahoma City played like a team who understood they were on a different level from Utah.
This series is far from over. Quin Snyder will certainly make adjustments, and Rudy Gobert will have better games. But if Sunday taught us anything, it’s that if the Thunder play up to their abilities this series should be over in no more than six games.