The OKC Thunder were gifted a primetime slot on national TV to lead the charge for all of Sunday's Game 1 bouts of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
To the delight of fans near and far, the ball club proved worthy of such a royal treatment, as they showed their quarterfinal foe, the Memphis Grizzlies, why they're considered to be so far ahead of every team in the Western Conference and, quite possibly, the entire league.
From their lights-out offensive performance that saw them drop 68 points in the first half alone and cash home on 50.5 percent of their attempts from the field to their swarming defense that forced 22 turnovers, totaled 20 stocks, and held Ja Morant and co. to a putrid 34.4 percent shooting from the floor, Oklahoma City was playing near-flawless basketball on both ends of the floor.
As a result, they coasted to an eye-poppingly lopsided 131-80 win over the Grizzlies, giving the Thunder not just a 1-0 series lead but also the record for the largest margin of victory in a Game 1 in NBA history.
Now, the way in which OKC performed on the night should undoubtedly have given more strength to their status as title favorites this postseason on its own. However, perhaps more important is the state of the team's mentality following such a route, as coach Mark Daigneault's postgame comments only further prove why this ball club is worthy of their unrivaled championship odds.
Mark Daigneault's remarks show Thunder have championship mentality
Right off the bat in his post-game media session, coach Daigneault discussed with reporters what helped lead to Oklahoma City's 51-point blowout over Memphis. In his assessment, he specifically highlighted his team's "ready to play" defensive intensity from the get-go.
However, instead of going on a praise-filled tangent -- frankly, something that would not only be easy to do but would have been warranted --, the seasoned headman put some perspective on the contest, as he made sure to remind everyone that the Grizzlies are not a team that can be overlooked, even after such an outing.
"They played 36 hours ago and had an emotional game. They had to turn around and play at noon today, which is a really tough turnaround. They're going to be better Tuesday. I thought we did a good job but I don't think we can expect that from them. They're going to play a lot better than that. They're going to be fresher. They have big-time competitors. We need to be ready to play on Tuesday," Daigneault said.
During the game, this kind of mentality was put on display in the sheer way in which Oklahoma City operated, even amid what wound up being a 56-point advantage at one point.
Never once did this team see a player looking to pad their stats or run up the score for the sake of embarrassing Memphis.
Instead, from tip-off to the final buzzer, the Thunder played within their scheme and stuck to the game plan, for, as Jalen Williams put it during his presser, "that's a really good team over there," and, because of that, "we're kind of competing with ourselves to make sure we're sharp for Game 2 because we know what we're going to get with them."
With both the eye-test and based on their post-game remarks, this Thunder team is all about business, not looking to "get up numbers," as a reporter put it following the contest.
In other words, this is exactly the type of mentality a team should have if they're looking to win an NBA Championship.