OKC Thunder one year later – how ‘the shot’ shifted the franchise
By Rylan Stiles
One year ago today, Damian Lillard broke the hearts of the OKC Thunder. Where do they stand one year later?
Judging by the title, you can probably tell. Most of this article will be painful to read for OKC Thunder fans. A year removed from one of the most heartbreaking moments in team history, which says a lot.
As you can imagine, I am writing this in heartbreaking segments. Having to pause and stare blankly into the abyss as I sip on a cup of coffee thinking of what could’ve been if that shot rims out.
Let’s just embrace it. Let’s do the entire timeline of the shot. It goes back prior to the start of the postseason. In fact, we had no idea who the OKC Thunder would matchup with until the final day of the regular season.
When the dust settled, and the regular season was put to bed, we found out that the Thunder would be going head-to-head with a banged-up Portland Trail Blazers squad.
I will be the first to admit, I was bouncing off the walls. I was elated, prematurely celebrating the way the standings shook out.
You have to remember the Blazers were battling without Jusuf Nurkic, and the last time we saw Enes Kanter in the postseason his own coach said: “Can’t play Kanter.”
In the article previewing the playoff matchup, Site Expert Tamberlyn Richardson said: “Of the teams that the Thunder could face in the first round I made no bones about wanting Portland. With all due respect to Damian Lillard (who is on my All-NBA team) with CJ McCollum still not 100 percent and Jusuf Nurkic lost for the season the Blazers were the best choice for the Thunder.”
It is safe to say, that the stage looked to be set for an upset. Almost everyone was picking Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and company to defeat the higher-seeded Blazers that were dealing with a ton of adversity.
It seemed as though this was just the break the OKC Thunder needed after getting absolutely embarrassed by the Utah Jazz the year before in the first round.