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Jalen Williams returns to the Oklahoma City Thunder just in time for the playoff push, instantly raising the team's ceiling and providing crucial lineup flexibility. With Ajay Mitchell suspended for the matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, all eyes turn to how Williams will reintegrate into the rotation and which player will step up in the secondary unit. Can head coach Mark Daigneault maximize the firepower from sharpshooters Isaiah Joe and Jared McCain to reshape the Thunder's offensive identity?
Brandon Rahbar and Rylan Stiles spotlight upcoming statement games—particularly the clash against the Boston Celtics, a potential NBA Finals preview. The conversation explores roster health, Ajay Mitchell’s evolving role, and the myriad lineup options now available for Oklahoma City. Don’t miss this fast-paced breakdown of the Thunder’s strategy for securing the No. 1 seed and the biggest storylines shaping their playoff journey.
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On today's Lockdown Thunder podcast.
J. Dub is back for Oklahoma City.
What that means for the rest of the way.
You are Lockdown Thunder.
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Part of the Lockdown podcast network.
Your team every day.
Let's get it going on Lockdown Thunder podcast.
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We're joined by Brandon Bar of daily Thunder.com to talk about J. Dub.
Making his return from his second hamstring injury.
AJ Mitchell.
He suspended.
He'll be watching this game from the locker room tonight against Philadelphia.
Plus some key matchups this week, including what I think might be.
The biggest game remaining on the schedule for Oklahoma City going down Wednesday against Boston.
Brandon.
We got the good news today on the injury report before the Thunder.
Battle the Sixers tonight.
That J. Dub would be off the injury report and active to play tonight against the Sixers.
After missing five plus weeks and is back with 11 regular season games to go.
But I would mention 11 regular season games plus the play internment week.
We're going to have a week off to continue to ramp up and practice and things of that nature.
Plus a first round matchup that I don't think anyone seems to think we'll have any teeth against Oklahoma City.
So you look at it.
Factor and all that time.
Let's call it about a month before things really get real for J. Dub and for the Thunder.
What's your takeaway of J. Dub being back?
And what are you looking for over these last 11 games with him now integrated into this team?
Yeah, I think the time is great because I do think that 11 games plus like you said, the play in week and then that first round series.
I think that gives J. Dub plenty of runway to get his rhythm back to get the chemistry going again.
And just to develop, you know, that feeling that he needs to be kind of like that mid season feeling of getting his legs underneath the conditioning and all those things.
Also, the timing is good because, you know, there's a lot of big games coming up for the Thunder down the stretch over these last 11 games.
You're playing the Lakers a couple times.
You're playing the pistons. You're playing the Celtics.
You're playing the Nuggets.
You've got some big games, some spotlight games.
And so I think this is great for the Thunder.
They are finally getting healthy.
They've retained the number one C this season.
Despite all these injuries to J. Dub and Heart and Stein go up and down the roster.
Everybody's missed time.
Most players have missed double digits.
And so the fact that the Thunder have retained the number one seed and have won 11 straight games.
And now you add a guy who has 13 all NBA and all star and second team all defense into the fold who is the second best player in your championship run last year who scored 40 points in a finals game.
You're adding this guy into the mix.
Sure, AJ Mitchell is going to miss Monday night against the 76ers.
But after that, you should have a fully healthy roster going into the playoffs with 11 10 11 games to ramp up.
I think this is the ideal kind of situation and timing for both J. Dub and for the Thunder.
I completely agree with you, especially on the timing point of you're going to get some legitimate games as well in this stretch.
You're going to play Philadelphia today, which is a game that the Thunder should take care of business against Philadelphia.
They shouldn't be in danger of losing to these sixers who are still kind of in this weird spot of playing in the East, but they're still only a game back of the fifth seed and trying to climb that ladder.
But they have Philadelphia has more teeth than the previous opponents of Brooklyn of Washington.
I've let off you at least can put up a fight, but not to the extent that Boston can on Wednesday.
And then you get Chicago as a game that's coming off of a very high emotional game.
And then you get thrown into the fire of New York, Detroit, back to back.
We'll see how they manage everybody in that back to back.
Stent at home, but then you get to Lakers twice who are really surging right now.
And once again playing their best basketball at the very end of the regular season.
We saw last year that didn't really translate to the regular season, but to the postseason, but still it is happening again for the purple and gold.
Then you get the Clippers nuggets and sons.
You take those games as they come of just what does it all mean for all those teams?
But you are going to see at least some good quality teams here right out of the shoot for jade up to try to work his way into.
And it will let you see what I think I'll be watching the most intently for is how do they utilize jade up.
Especially Wednesday against Boston and moving forward once you get AJ Mitchell back, but even to a certain degree tomorrow.
But AJ is going to be the key cog in this.
Is he able tomorrow today on Monday against the South against the Sixers?
Is he able to take hold of the start of the second quarter, start of the fourth quarter on the ball, generate any shot he wants to score at well?
Because the last time we saw him play against Phoenix before he suffered that injury, he had 28 points as many minutes.
So he was just dominant in that game as a score.
He looked like himself.
And he mentioned how the wrist situation is the best felt since the initial injury, whenever he came back that that first time from the hamstring issue.
Now coming back for a second time, is it still the same way?
Can you pick back up?
Is it like riding a bike where you're just going to take off and run with his scoring prowess?
Or do we see the thunder starting on Wednesday, of course, because AJ suspended for this game?
Do we see the thunder play him more in an off ball role for the 48 minute game where even whenever she's not out there, AJ Mitchell is on the ball.
And he's putting jade up in advantageous situations.
He's making life easier on jade up on the offensive end.
He's really letting the pressure come off of him because we know he's going to be an elite defender.
And jade up will be he's an all defensive guy like he's going to be an elite defensive player.
And all throughout the season, Brandon, even ever his offense was seemingly in a lull.
His defense never did lack at all.
It's like I'm fully, fully confident in that end of the four for jade up.
But I'm going to be really watching for these next 11 games.
What does he look like with the ball in his hands when it comes to creating space?
What does it look like as a three level score?
And what does he look like as a kitchen shoot three point shot option?
Because that that has been an area where, of course, me initially came back with the rest thing.
It didn't look great, but over the course of these last few games that he's played,
it looked a lot better moving forward because he talked about that range of motion.
He got back in his wrist.
So I'm very curious offensively what role ends up being best served for him.
And in these next 11 games, can they get him back to the role we saw last post season starting in game seven against Denver and onward?
Yeah, you know that his defense gives him such a high floor and a baseline anyways.
Because like you said, even though he missed all those games to start the season,
and he didn't have a shooting rhythm and all those things with his wrist and recovery,
his defense is already like all NBA level like defense.
So that's a baseline.
Plus he's just a threat out there because everybody knows that he was the second best player for the thunder and a championship run.
So he does have some gravity.
He's going to attract some defensive tension and draw some defensive tension away from Shay and AJ and the shooters like McCain and Joe and Chet being out there.
So I think him just being there is a threat regardless.
And you know, Mark's going to find a way like I agree with you.
I am very curious.
That's the biggest question to me like, is he going to go back into that role where he's the the secondary playmaker,
shot creator, creating shots for himself, creating shots for others?
Or will it be more of a hey, we're trying to get our feet underneath him?
And it'll be AJ in that role.
And he's more than a third, you know, creator, playmaker, sort of role and a catch and shoot sort of role.
Either way, he's going to help this team because of his defense, because of his versatility,
because he has a scoring threat, whether it's on ball or whether it's awful.
And because he has that gravity, ideally, he's going to be that secondary guy.
But AJ Mitchell becoming such an important player and such a great player for this thunder team gives you options now.
It can be J up in that role.
It can be AJ in that role.
Maybe they flip flop.
Maybe it goes back and forth.
Maybe it's AJ, you know, I don't know.
I don't know what it's going to be.
I think that is the big question.
And, you know, the thunder ceiling is already so high.
But J up getting back to that role can take it to another level, obviously.
You know, Brandon, there's so much to discuss when it comes to J up returning.
We've talked about one way that thunder can take pressure off of him.
And that's with AJ Mitchell.
But there is still another way and another optionality that this team has with the sharp footage.
I think the pairing of Joe and McCain will serve as the biggest difference maker.
Not even for Shay, but for J up.
And I'll tell you why coming up.
Plus is the best game of the season and the regular season that's left here this week on Wednesday against Boston.
I think so.
We'll talk about AJ suspension as well.
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Back on the lock down.
Thunder podcast.
The lock down podcast.
Work your teams every day here joined by Brenner bar daily thunder.com.
I'm a rallying style.
So, so lock down thunder Brandon J.
Dub.
Let's stick with him for a second.
Because like we kind of know a lot about J.
Dub's game as the play of the days and all NBA player, all the offensive player drop 40 points in the finals.
The number two score on this team.
And I think that the starting lineup is what it is.
I could just going to be shea low job chat.
I heart.
But when J.
Dub's in charge of that second, they're a unit.
I completely stand by everything we talked about in the first segment of AJ Mitchell being able to take some pressure off of J.
Dub, especially with the unknown quantity of.
How is he going to be feeling?
How is he going to look playing the basketball games after this long of a layoff?
And after only going to get to play what 30 something games this season?
Like that's that's a challenging of itself.
But even if J. Dub is feeling 100% like himself, like let's let's live in this fantasy world real quick.
Let's let's let's live in candy land for a second, Brandon.
If J.
Dub is 100% back to the peak of his powers.
And I still think that this team is better served for him than it was a year ago.
And think what he did a year ago.
We just went through his accolades, all NBA, all star, all defensive 40 points in the finals.
He he forced some whispers, Brandon about like, oh, should he be conference MVP?
Should he be in be a bouncing VP?
He forced some whispers of what he did last playoff run while having a generational player next to him.
Like that's how good this guy was.
And I look at the secondary unit, which for as good as J.
Dub was last year at time still could stall without both him and share on the court in the half court in the post season.
With how relentless he is at getting to the rim on top of his ability to hit tough midrange jumpers.
The three point shooting of Isaiah Joe and Jared McCain is going to open up the floor so much for a guy who we talk about his consistency.
Brandon, the only offensive consistency from this season from J.
Dub has been his playmaking.
He went through that stretch where he were returning.
He had like what six straight games of five assists or more.
Like he was dishing it out.
And now he's got guys to toss the ball out to who can come through speaking of AJ Mitchell.
AJ Mitchell is a really good off ball player as well.
He works next to SGA very well.
He's going to work next to Jada very well.
So right now, I think that this team is still in a better position, even if it's J.
Dub is at the peak of his powers to compliment him better and make this team better.
Then they were when he left them.
Then they were when he was at the apex because he has not been at the apex yet this season.
But if he can get back there, it is still a better case scenario for him.
100%.
And he is a very willing passer.
He is a great passer.
He's one of the best passers on the team.
One of the best lob passers on the team, playmakers on the team.
And I am excited to see Jada on the court with those bench units, with those two shooters,
with McCain and Isaiah Joe, especially this version of Isaiah Joe with AJ Mitchell.
Like just the different combinations and lineups that Mark can throw out there now.
You know, this team last year in the playoff run to the championship, you know,
there were times where the offense stalled, especially if it wasn't like you said with SGA out there with Jada.
Now you're adding AJ Mitchell to the fold.
You're adding Jair McCain to the fold.
You're adding a different version of Isaiah Joe.
So now you plop down Jada, who is a great passer and a great score in the middle of all this.
And you're kind of giving him new toys to work with.
Yeah, it's going to be fun.
I think the most difficult challenge is going to be, you know, finding minutes for everybody,
because pretty much everybody on the scene is going to deserve minutes.
And especially down the stretch, as you're trying to develop, you know,
the rhythm and chemistry of the whole unit, figuring out those lineups.
But Mark has so many different lineups he can play with now, with all these different players and these shooters.
And I just think that the offense has the potential now to hit a lot higher ceiling.
It has a lot higher upside than it did last post season.
Yeah, upside is the right word to use there.
And this team, this is, this is very, very thunder-fied Brandon.
Like this is, this is very thunder-coded.
And I'm, I'm buying into it.
I'm buying into the fact that perhaps Brandon, I am drinking the cool.
They're obviously drinking the cool.
That's what Mark would say that I'm drinking the cool.
But I do believe that they have more tools in their toolbox, more optionality.
One of the thunder, we need a thunder dictionary, Brandon.
We were talking before the show with the audience in.
We were like, I can't believe the season's almost over.
Like, you know, it's 11 games left with the regular season.
And hopefully the thunder, it's not an Intel June, but, you know, the day-to-day grind,
we'll slow down a little bit with the regular season going to close.
I can't believe it's almost over.
One of the things we need to do in the dog days of the summer,
when we're still doing this pot every single day,
is we need, we need to cope with the thunder dictionary of just every word that
there was someone who commented the other day of like,
whatever happened that you're saying options.
We're brainwashed.
Mark always says optionality.
It's just, it's just what you say.
Another one like that is comfortability.
Mark loves the word comfortability.
And I never knew until recently that it was not even a real word,
but Mark is so much smarter than everyone that I thought that he was clearly telling us
the right verbiage.
I thought of, I thought, you know what?
Let me not call Mark on this because I'm from Latin.
I'm just a kid from Latin.
I got a 50th education, right?
From LPS, no less.
If Oklahoma's in the 50th education brand,
LPS is in the 60s of education, at least.
So who am I?
Who am I?
To tell Mark that comfortability is not a real word.
It didn't front out to recently that it's not.
So nonetheless, maybe I am drinking the Kool-Aid on optionality,
but this team does have a lot of options of,
they have a J-Dub.
They have a Shay.
These guys who can get tough buckets,
even if you put a defensive slate to line up around them,
they themselves make an impact defensive.
Of course, J-Dub being all defensive.
Like that goes without saying.
And you can get a game into a rock fight.
They now have these shooters you can go to.
Like if you put, if you put these two shooters,
next to Shay and J-Dub, Brandon and Chet.
Yeah.
What happens?
Like how do you defend this team?
If that, if they're out there doing that,
they just can go to so many different pitches in their repertoire
that even if you slow down their fastball,
well, can you hit their curveball?
Can you hit their slider?
Can you hit the sweeper?
They just have so many pitches to go to.
And I think that it's going to be very interesting to see
how they manage and deploy these situations
and these tools in their toolbox as the matchups arise.
A fascinating question with this Thunder team,
with all the talent and the optionality,
all the different lines that you can put out.
A fascinating question is,
what is the best five?
Like I think if you asked ten different Thunder fans
or even Thunder reporters, who are the best five,
you might get ten different answers.
Because, you know, you could argue, you know,
seven, eight, nine guys deep could be the best five.
And then you're looking at versatility
and trying to balance scoring with defense
and length and height and size.
But I think that just goes to show,
whereas most teams, it's easy to pick, you know, the best five.
Or there's maybe a couple of options for your best five.
With this Thunder team, I don't know.
If you and I were to do that exercise,
we might come up with a different five.
I might come up with a different five today
and tomorrow and the next day.
But the overall arching point is,
the Thunder do have optionality.
And they have answers to whatever lineup you want to put out.
You want to go small.
They can match that or they can make you change.
If you, if they need all defensive lineup,
they can still score.
You can do that.
If you need an all shooting lineup,
you can put that out there.
But still survive, I think, defensively.
And I think that's one of the big cheat codes for this Thunder team
is how many options they have
and how many different looks they can throw at you.
And, you know, you went through a there.
Like, not only is that list tough to nail down,
but you have to have so many qualifiers to it.
It's like, is this the five best, just individual players?
Is it the five best players who fit the best together?
Like, there's so many different ways you can go with that question.
Where to your point,
you're going to start to really analyze these, these, you know,
if you're someone who is a, is a sickle Thunder fan,
which we love you,
and you listen to the show every single day,
but you're just so locked in on the Thunder,
that you don't like lock on the other,
other teams in the NBA,
because honestly, it is a full-time job, literally,
to have to know what's going on elsewhere,
besides just Oklahoma City.
Like, once you start to really zero in these teams
during these playoffs series,
you're going to quickly realize the answer to that question
might be hard for you.
It ain't hard for 29 other fan bases.
Like, hey, the other,
some of some fan bases out there
will struggle to get to the number five.
Much less have anyone locked over.
So, I mean, you're going to see a situation here
where the Thunder can just overwhelm you
with what all they can do and how they can keep on your heels.
And their optionality is a strength
because if you're thinking to yourself,
well, how do you,
how do you balance when you play what
if they're all playing well?
Like, if they're all,
that's even better
because now you can completely change your identity,
you know, segment to segment of the games,
you know, within five minutes,
if you're playing with fans of each other,
you can change how you're playing.
And other teams can't be that adaptive.
Other teams cannot adjust to you
as good as you can adjust to just thin air.
So, I think that that's going to benefit OTC
throughout the course of this post season.
We'll see if that's true.
But one thing that's not going to benefit OTC
is that tonight they do not have AJ Mitchell
who suspended for one game,
which I think is a bunch of
CRUD by the NBA.
And, there's a key match up this week.
I think it's their biggest game available left
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We're back on the lockdown,
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We talk about the games.
We talk March madness.
You got to hear a lot about my complaints with Kansas this weekend in the discord.
And you also get newsletters,
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Go check out today by going to the show notes and seeing the link down below.
We're going to lock down podcast.com slash every day or
and picking the thunder feed.
You can also text me one on one anytime you want to.
Brandon, you also have access to text me anytime you want to.
But you have the hotline, so to say.
You have the the bat phone.
You know, you have direct access in a lot of ways to do a different number.
I got two phones in my Kevin games.
Brandon.
Whenever we look at this upcoming stent here.
AJ Mitchell suspended for this game by the NBA.
First and foremost, it is a dampening situation.
Because he is the only member of the Thunder rotation on the Thunder
injury report.
This should have been a glorious day.
We should have been singing about him with a public in the street right now.
Marching down the canal and telling the good news.
That we've won the injury war.
Everything is back.
Everyone is back in town.
We should have been celebrating.
Instead, AJ Mitchell will still be out for this game due to the suspension.
But you knock on wood, Brandon.
And all of a sudden,
if everything goes smooth tonight against the sixers,
you'll have a full shrink thunder team against Boston.
Like, AJ got spit on one game for the skirmish against Washington.
And I think it's a load of rubbish.
The only thing I think Brandon that.
The only update to my feelings you can go listen to from Saturday.
Is I feel vindicated because.
I recorded Lockdown Thunder after the poor report came out.
I wanted to see what the rest would say.
And the refs.
Covered their own behind in a big way by.
By almost saying like, why are you even asking about Gil?
He did nothing wrong.
And then the NBA today gave Gil a fine.
That is larger than what AJ Mitchell will see from missing a game.
And Gil just.
It was a laughable situation.
Do not believe the poor reports.
I'll say it to you again like I said Saturday.
If you believe the poor reports.
And to an extent the last two minutes.
But especially the poor reports.
If you believe those.
Brandon, I've got beach rep property in Kansas to sell you.
I mean, I can't wait to get suckers born every day.
If you believe that poor report.
You know, but.
Whenever we look at this brand and AJ out for this game.
What are you.
Expecting to happen in this game.
Particularly.
And the secondary lineup says it's going to be a lot on J.
W.
What do you think of AJ suspension, which I think the lead got completely wrong?
It was only him and champagne.
He was suspended.
And then what do you think that it does for this matchup against Philadelphia?
Also agree.
I had to say I thought it was completely wrong to suspend AJ Mitchell.
My guy got pushed in the face.
Then he got tackled from behind.
And apparently he's not supposed to.
He's supposed to be a peacemaker.
After getting hit in the face.
Which by the way was was yoca chip peacemaker whenever he got tripped.
That's right.
That's what I was just wondering.
Right.
Right.
And there was no suspension there.
So.
To suspend AJ.
I think it's just.
Absolutely baffling.
Do not get it.
As far as the game itself.
I do think that this is a good spot for jada.
Like a one game ramp up before that Celtics game where he can be.
That secondary shot creator playmaker for the bench unit.
I think we'll see like a lineup.
We'll see like a lineup of.
Jada.
With the two shooters.
McCain and Isaiah.
Joe.
And Chet and heart and sign maybe that can be a really, really fun lineup.
And I just think that.
First game back.
Jada is probably going to be spraying it all around.
To to McCain.
Finding McCain.
Finding Joe.
He's a great.
Lob passer.
On a team that you know needs some great lob passers.
Isaiah heart and signs probably as big as competition on the team.
But so I think he's going to be throwing it to bigs.
I think he's going to be throwing it to shooters.
But yeah, I think.
With AJ Mitchell out.
I do think that J double be the primary engine.
Offensively.
For those reserve units when when she is sitting.
I would agree with that.
And it's a game.
And for that off you let the thunder should win pretty convincingly.
Drill and beat out.
Teresa Maxi out.
Even Kelly Ubrei is out in this game.
Even Dominic Barlow is doubtful for this game.
That's huge losses for my sixers.
And the thunder should make quick work of Philadelphia.
After this game they go to take on the Boston Celtics and Brandon.
Again, you're not going to would but the thunder should be fully healthy.
What feels like the first time all season on March 25 against Boston in the garden for the second game of the regular season series.
And then the thunder can try to sweep Boston.
And that regular season series and Boston.
Hopefully will be healthy.
They missed Tatum and Derek White in the game in Oklahoma said you hope that both sides are fully healthy because that's going to be a fantastic contest.
And so I ask you, Brandon, I'm very in on this game.
I think that this is a potential NBA finals preview so much so that I think if you force me to pick a matchup that I think is going to happen in the NBA finals.
If I had to just pick one match up.
I'd say that OKC Boston has the majority of my of my title pie of just what would be percentage points of each matchup happening.
They have the largest cut of the graph for thunder Boston.
Do you think that this is the biggest game remaining on their schedule because when you look at it, New York Detroit.
Well, that's it back to back.
So who knows what happens if you they rest on the front end.
They rest on the back end.
Do they rest at all?
Like that's an unknown quantity.
The Lakers twice in April.
Lakers playing great basketball.
Sure.
Maybe maybe you're in on this Lakers run and you want to see Luca and Shay.
I told the grant you that and then Denver on April 10th.
That's so late in the year that I wonder what all it means for either side to wear that this weighs me from the Denver choice.
So for me, it's between Boston and L.A.
And I go Boston because I think that it has more stakes to it.
Yeah, I think this absolutely could be an NBA finals preview.
It would be one of my top picks as well.
If I had to choose a team from the East and a team from the West, I could absolutely see it.
And for that.
And because it's in Boston, it's at TD Garden.
And you know, kind of the hype of the last two champions going at it.
The number one seed in the West, the number two seed in the East.
And the number one seed in the East isn't a full strength right now.
So it kind of feels like Boston's the best team in the East right now.
It absolutely feels kind of like a clash of the Titans.
I might go with the L.A. Games only because of this like late season, like push for Luca
and MVP in that whole campaign.
I think that Shay's got it on lockdown.
But it's going to be hyped up.
It's L.A. It's the champs.
It's Shay and Luca.
There's going to be a lot of hype with those.
But there's so many good games down the stretch.
I think you can make an argument for both those L.A. Games or this Boston game.
Maybe that next game or like you said, it really depends on if that nuggets game matters for both teams or not.
Maybe it won't matter for the thunder.
Maybe it won't matter for the nuggets.
We'll see either way this Thunder Celtics game is going to be huge.
There's going to be a lot of hype.
And there's going to be some big sweeping takeaways, no matter what happens.
And you know, I think that it's a good call out about that Laker scheme for a few reasons.
Number one is shocking that this Boston Thunder game is not scheduled to be played on national television.
That seems like a huge miss by the lake.
If that remains true.
But number two, the Lakers game in O.K.C. is on Amazon Prime.
There has been this Luca push for MVP.
I to play doubles advocate against myself.
I do think that at least there's going to definitively be something that happens in that Lakers Thunder game.
That is discussed long term.
And that is a legit takeaway.
I'd like if, if she out towards Luca, the MVP races dead.
If, if Luca out shines, she, then Luca's MVP candidate.
They see is flying higher than it has in a long time.
And there's a legit conversation about MVP.
So at least we know that going in that something's going to happen.
Whereas let's say that Boston O.K.C. play a thrilling basketball game.
I think minutes of pure basketball bliss.
I've just back and forth, physical, hard nose, defense, great shot making, trading blows, exchanging many runs.
But neither team can really separate in those runs.
It's a great basketball game.
I don't think that anyone leaves that game with any like massive takeaways.
I think that no matter who wins or loses Wednesday, you leave the game saying these are two of the best teams in the lake.
And we knew that going in.
So to your point of the Lakers having your attention, at least something will change.
After that first Lakers game, either Shay puts the MVP to rest at home in the Payacom Center and just dominates the game.
Or Luca really starts to to to tighten the gap in the court of public perception of the MVP race after that game.
So perhaps it is the Lakers game that's left up.
I think in terms of basketball, though, in terms of just if you want to watch the game and you don't care about the extra story lines, it is Boston.
But if you do care about the entertainment, the drama, the story lines, then it probably is the Lakers.
If we can compromise there.
Right. Yeah, completely agreed.
Like as far as like talking heads and like all the segments on like all the big networks and social media and all those things.
That's going to be Thunder Lakers.
It's going to dominate like all the the narratives and discourse and all those things.
Whatever takeaway it is, whether it's for Shay, whether it's for Luca, whether it's for the Thunder, whether it's for the Lakers.
That is going to be like the center of the NBA universe when those games happen.
I agree with you.
It's much more likely that Thunder Celtics is a finals preview than you know Thunder Lakers.
I mean, that could be a Western conference finals preview for sure.
I wouldn't I wouldn't think it would be.
But but I guess it could be.
But yeah, I would say that like the best basketball is going to be Oklahoma City, Boston.
But the big talking points is going to be Thunder Lakers.
So whatever you are interested in, there's still something out there for you.
Whether you're interested in the basketball, which again, I think the Boston OKC has the largest amount of the pie chart of like the potential NBA finals matchups.
And then I think the OKC, the Lakers on the pie chart of like possible West finals matchups.
I think that it's on there.
I think that it's on the board to your point.
I just think it's a very small sliver, very small sliver, you know, of the pie chart.
Brandon, let them know what you've got cooking up your everywhere daily Thunder.
You're also an OKC Dream team with me on Patreon and our group over there.
You're also on Thunder Roundtable.
What's going on over there?
I want to send some of the franchise.
What do you want to promote here?
Yeah, you know that all.
Yeah, just everything that Ryland just said.
And you can follow me at Twitter at brainer or bar.
Go check them out on Twitter.
You listen.
If you listen to this show, you are already following Brandon on Twitter.
Everyone knows Brandon or bar.
Come on.
This guy's a mega star.
You go out to the cigar bars, Brandon.
Everyone walks up to him like, oh, Brandon's here.
Brandon's here.
How can I buy you a drink, buddy?
Brandon's here.
You know, it's like what a my chop lever.
I do a show every single day, multiple times a day, you know, but it's OK.
I digress.
Brandon, you deserve all the success in the world, buddy.
Can't wait for Friday.
Going to take you into that post office.
I'll show you my playmaking out of the post turn around J's all that good stuff.
You know, you are going to have to be my.
My is a drill beer is a heart and Stein.
I'll toss out these these be brilliant passes.
But they don't teach you anymore.
You know, they don't teach you the fundamentals of the game anymore.
I need to go back in the coaching to get the society right.
And you'll be knocking down threes.
And I will have a good time Friday.
But until then, be good and be good to one another.
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Locked On Thunder - Daily Podcast On The Oklahoma City Thunder

Locked On Thunder - Daily Podcast On The Oklahoma City Thunder

Locked On Thunder - Daily Podcast On The Oklahoma City Thunder
