Things seemed dire for the Oklahoma City Thunder after their Game 4 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. At least, they were more dire than they've been at any time during this playoff run.
After taking a 2-1 series lead, the Thunder offense went completely flat. In Game 4, they shot just 33% from the field against San Antonio's swarming defense. They posted 82 points on the night, and with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell out, they had no outlet to skirt the pressure the Spurs levied against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Devin Vassell, when asked after that victory what he'd learned during this playoff run, issued a statement that Spurs writer Jahlil Williams called the "best quote of the playoffs".
"That experience does not matter. Experience doesn’t matter. We’re here."- Devin Vassell
But Game 5 was a different story. A less experienced team may have folded under the surging confidence of a young Spurs squad, but the Thunder got right back to the winning formula they found in Games 2 and 3. They shot 48.2% from the field and 43.8% from beyond the arc on the night, posting 127 points in a wire-to-wire victory.
They now enter Game 6 with an undeniable advantage, and Vassell's quote looks to have quickly backfired for the Spurs.
The Thunder's experience is what will allow them to prevail in this series
These are two teams that will likely face off against each other for years to come. They're clearly closely matched even in Victor Wembanyama's first playoff run, and that should be a scary thought to everyone across the NBA.
But there's also a clear separating factor between them at the moment. Experience.
Oklahoma City has been through the ups-and-downs of a long playoff run. They had their fair share of games last postseason where things fell flat offensively. But they're consistently able to rely on their defensive structure and the waves of depth across their roster to get them right.
Of course, it wasn't all experienced players who showed out for the Thunder in Game 5. Jared McCain, for example, had 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field. But the game's impactful contributors, including Alex Caruso and Kenrich Williams, were players who knew to play their roles within the Thunder's scheme, never too high or too low on any given night.
Experience might not matter in a single-game setting, sure. But San Antonio learned in Game 5 what experience can do for a team whose backs are against the wall. They were utterly outplayed, and it was because of the Thunder's experience in these settings.
We'll simply have to see if it matters in Game 6.
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