At the end of the final match of the NBA Regular Season, Vietnamese-born striker Jaylin Williams and several teammates brought a familiar image after each victory.
No matter which Oklahoma City Thunder player is chosen to be interviewed on the field, that player will have at least a few teammates hanging on their shoulders and happily joking together.
The answer was still given by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who tried to maintain seriousness as a series of teammates around him nodded, reacted and enjoyed moments of fun.
It is this somewhat mischievous teamwork that is the nucleus that helps Oklahoma City Thunder succeed, ending the 2023-24 NBA Regular Season at the top of the Western rankings.
This position was determined after the strong 135-86 victory that OKC won against the Dallas Mavericks on the morning of April 15, helping Thunder, despite having the same record as defending champion Denver Nuggets, ranked higher by sub-index.
“Even though we are very confident in ourselves and have trained very hard, focusing on building team culture and unity, when we actually get to this position, the feeling is really indescribable “ , shared Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the “oldest” player in the Thunder starting lineup.
“I think the key is that we always have absolute trust in each other and find joy in competing. Of course you have to win on the field, but having fun while competing and also experiencing it with your brothers is truly amazing.”
Before entering the final day of the Regular Season, Oklahoma City Thunder had the same record as two other teams at the top of the West, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
This is the first time in the 77-year history of the American Professional Basketball League that 3 teams have the same win-loss record at the top of the rankings, any team can climb to number 1.
In the end, that position belonged to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a strong victory over Dallas. The Denver Nuggets also won lightly this morning, however Nikola Jokic and the defending NBA champions lost to the Thunder in head-to-head.
This result created the youngest team in NBA history to top the region rankings . The average age of the Oklahoma City Thunder this year is 23.9 years old, more than 2 years younger than the second-place team, the Phoenix Suns in the 2004-05 season.
Speaking of “2 years”, this is also the period of time when OKC went from a team that only won 24 matches all season to the No. 1 seed in the West with 57 wins. This is truly an amazing step forward.
Both Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 1 seed) and Denver Nuggets (No. 2 seed) will wait for the results of the Play-in Tournament series to determine their opponents in round 1 of the NBA Playoffs.
The Denver Nuggets will face the winner of the 7-8 seeding match between the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers next Wednesday (April 17).
The losing team in the above match will meet the winner in the 9-10 seed match between Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. Whoever wins this match will face OKC Thunder.
