Yet another historic night for the OKC Thunder. Game 1 against the Grizzlies saw them set a franchise record, beating Memphis by a 51-point margin. Well, they’ve only gone and outdone themselves, but in different circumstances. Their 114-108 win last night was a 29-point comeback after switching off hard in the first half. This is the second-largest in NBA playoff history in the play-by-play era (since 1997), and the 26-point halftime comeback is the largest ever in NBA playoff history.

But for the die-hard ultras, there might be a sting in their win. It was 3 minutes to go for the first half, and the Memphis cult hero Ja Morant took a nasty fall. He went down hard in the second quarter after being undercut by Thunder guard Luguentz Dort on a 2-on-1 fast break. This kinda put the dents in the Grizz’s hopes of bettering their score. And that’s exactly what ended up happening.

This game was the turning point for the OKC doubters. Switch off? They’ll capitalise, just like game 1. Turn up? They’ll turn up even harder and won’t even give you a fighting chance. They look every bit like the champions-elect. And just to double down on their might, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has some words for the rest of the league.

“Like we know how they built a 29 point lead in a half. So we knew like all we had to do was build our own 29 point lead. You know what I mean? So like if they could build it, we can erase it. And that’s how we see it. That’s what we did. We had to plug away at it. Now, like Jalen said, it sucks in the moment, but you can’t pout. You can’t get caught in your feelings because then it just gets bigger and bigger, and you don’t have to give yourself a chance,” said SGA.

If you ever thought you had a chance against Mark Daigneault’s OKC team, think again. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the spearhead, gonna roll you over like a mother making bread for her children. But amongst the crowd of headline grabbers and dunkers, the ones silent in the scores are the loudest in the locker room. And without one of those silent ninjas, the Thunder could’ve kissed their comeback hopes goodbye.

Amidst a night full of Thunder highs, one man took the plaudits from his team- Alex Caruso. Their resident Derrick White. The 31-year-old guard might not grab the headlines like his teammates, but they’re always the first to praise him. Without him, they’d have no shot at turning the tide in their favour. Jalen Williams admitted as much.

Thunder locker room is full of praises for Alex Caruso

“He turned the tide around for sure. Just knows how to win. He’s been a part of winning teams. He’s a competitor, and obviously that’s why he’s here. He did a really good job. just keeps us locked in, keeps us honest. He’s definitely one of the vocal leaders on the team. Yeah, he just kind of turned the tide defensively, helped us turn it up a notch,” said JW in the postgame sound.

You could argue that Chet Holmgren had one of his best matches in the OKC Blue. He was one of the sole reasons for the Thunder sniffing the pre-workout juice and getting the blood pumping in the third quarter. And still, he had the world’s praises to give to Caruso.

“You love playing with people like that. They’re going to make all the right plays. They’re gonna have your back like I said and that’s what AC does. He showed it long before he even got here with us but you know that’s nothing doesn’t surprise us. We see that every night from him.” As much as the first half might’ve told us, Thunder struck thrice against Memphis. They’re just one game away from the semis, where either the Clippers or Nuggets await.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s tail is up and ready to take on the rest of the league by storm, ’cause that’s where the Thunder thrive. With SGA leading the front and Alex Caruso leading the locker room, there’s a genuine question for our readers- is there any team that has a shot at stopping OKC? Or is it just written in the stars for them this season?