It's well understood that the OKC Thunder are not only masters of the hardwood in terms of talent, but are A-plus students of the game as a whole.
If this latter fact wasn't already hammered home by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's "answers to the test" bar that he dropped back in March, it certainly now should be with Oso Ighodaro's recent reveal.
During the forward's end-of-season exit interview following his Suns' four-game playoff trouncing by Oklahoma City, when asked what he had learned from his experience playing the defending champs in round one, Ighodaro admitted that the Thunder "were calling out every single one of our plays, like, immediately."
"I had went through their playbook and knew pretty much their actions, but the level at which they knew our plays was definitely different," Ighodaro said.
Needless to say, the Thunder aren't taking their status as defending champions for granted during this year's postseason, as even they have publicly acknowledged that their approach to last year's title run isn't necessarily replicable step by step.
With this, it should come as no surprise that they hit the film room hard heading into the playoffs as they look to become the first repeat champ since the 2018 Warriors.
Based on Ighodaro's remarks, it's clear that Oklahoma City's studies and behind-the-scenes work already have them resembling that of a team full of mind-readers during these early stages of the playoffs.
Thunder looking to Lakers or Rockets as their potential next victim
With the first-round series between the Lakers and Rockets still underway and heading into a Game 5 on Wednesday night, the Thunder still don't technically know who their semifinal foe will be.
Despite this uncertainty, SGA clearly isn't too keen on waiting for a series resolution to start his pre-round preparation.
Directly following OKC's series sweep over the Suns, the reigning MVP admitted that he's been watching "all of the Lakers and Houston series" in an effort to get a better understanding of both teams' "strengths and weaknesses."
Here in 2025-26, in seven total games played against both ball clubs the Thunder have compiled a record of 6-1, with their lone loss coming against the Rockets when playing without key guys like Gilgeous-Alexander, Ajay Mitchell, and Jalen Williams.
Already, it seems like Oklahoma City has an established blueprint to success in round two, and once either Los Angeles or Houston punches their ticket, expect this team to add even more plans of action to their playbook.
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