Imagine an NBA Finals With Oklahoma City and Cleveland
We’re entering week three of the 2024-2025 NBA season. You know what that means—time for way-too-early Finals predictions!
In the spirit of clearly established patterns (like, you know, the NBA’s latest parity era) and recency bias (because it’s human instinct to look at the cover and judge the book), let’s envision a seven-game championship series between two promising franchises.
Imagine the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers battling for the Larry O’Brien trophy in June 2025. Wouldn’t that be a sight?
In the tried and tested tradition of blockbuster sports matchups, a Finals series between the Thunder and the Cavs would be interesting because of the respective identities they’ve been establishing this season. Clearly, there’s a clash of styles between these two conference-leading teams, and the NBA Finals would be the best venue for them to slug it out for basketball supremacy.
As of this past weekend, the Cavaliers are the lone Eastern Conference team with an unblemished record (7-0). Their calling card is, without a doubt, offense. To be specific, multiple metrics show that they’re the most efficient offense in the entire league thus far. The Cavs are number one in field goal percentage (a whopping 52.6% per game), number one in true shooting percentage (63.4%), and number two in offensive rating (121.9, which is just a shade under the Boston Celtics’ 122.5).
“The ball has energy, so whenever someone touches it, they feel like they’re part of the offense,” Cavs guard Darius Garland said after their win over the Paolo Banchero-less Orlando Magic on Nov. 1. “We just got to keep it going, just keep the ball moving, bodies moving.”
Sharing the ball is a beautiful thing, sure, but when the chips are down, you need a fearless shot-maker who can hit the jackpot. For Cleveland, that would be five-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell. Just five months ago, there were speculations that Mitchell could be headed to Tinseltown, straight into the open arms of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. One multi-year contract extension later, Mitchell is putting up the best shooting clips of his life to the delight of Cavaliers fans.
If anyone has any doubts about Mitchell’s profound connection to Cleveland at this point, kindly direct them to the Cavs’ scintillating 114-113 win over the hapless Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 2. Three guesses who hit the final go-ahead basket.
With the sensational scoring of Spida and the prolific contributions of Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, Cleveland has plenty of fuel in the tank to rampage their way through the Eastern Conference Finals this season.
Over in the Western Conference, there’s another highly successful ball club that’s put the entire league on notice. And they’re doing it their own way.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, who are 6-0 as of this past weekend, are demanding unadulterated respect through the power of their defense. Picking up right where they left off in the previous season, the Thunder have the NBA’s best defensive rating (95.1) through Nov. 2. They’re the only team in the league to hold their opponents to an average of below 100 points per game, primarily because they’re number one in limiting opponents’ field-goal percentage.
Dissect the Thunder’s methodical defense further, and you’ll see some more impressive numbers. OKC is third in the league in limiting opponents’ three-point shooting clip (30.7%), as well as fourth in mitigating opponents’ scoring in the paint (42.7%). They’re also number one in forcing turnovers, while also being a top-three team in terms of committing the fewest errors per game.
“The shotmaking variance of an individual game can be very noisy on both ends of the floor, but the things that can be constant are your compete level and your together level,” said Mark Daigenault, reigning Coach of the Year, after OKC zoomed off to a 3-0 start. “That, you can bring every night.”
Look up and down OKC’s roster, and you’ll see tenacious players who bring 110% hustle on the defensive end every night. There’s the highly disruptive presence of Lu Dort and the newly acquired Alex Caruso, the versatility of Jalen Williams, the length of Ousmane Dieng and Cason Wallace, and the unicorn known as Chet Holmgren. Oh, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—the team’s lynchpin—has a defensive rating of 94.0, fourth best in the team. That’s a scary roster, indeed.
What’s going to happen when the formidable offense of the Cavaliers meets the suffocating defense of the Thunder? I don’t know about you, but I’ve circled a couple of dates on my 2025 calendar already: January 8 and 16, which mark the two regular season encounters between these two talented teams.
I pray that the basketball gods give us both ball clubs at full strength on those dates. How I’d love to see Garland’s bag of tricks squaring up against Dort’s defensive mastery, Mobley and Holmgren showcasing the next step in the evolution of the center position, and—of course—Spida and SGA engaging in a late-game shootout.
Will the 2025 NBA Finals be contested between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder? Simoun says: Don’t be surprised if it does.
By the Numbers
30
The number of turnovers committed by the UP Fighting Maroons in their worst elimination-round loss thus far this season. The NU Bulldogs—whose game plan against the Maroons was masterful from beginning to end—capitalized to the tune of 23 turnover points. Here’s another stat line for all you eagle-eyed observers out there: Since the start of the Goldwin Monteverde era, UP has not lost two elimination-round games in a row. The next opponent for the Fighting Maroons this season? The DLSU Green Archers, who defeated them 68-56 in Round 1. Can the Fighting Maroons avoid back-to-back elims losses yet again? We shall see on Sunday.
31:35
The amount of gametime that LA Tenorio has spent on the floor across Games 3 and 4 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals. Both games, of course, were wins for Barangay Ginebra, which has now tied up its series with TNT at two victories apiece. I have three takeaways here, folks. One: The old reliables are, well, still pretty damn reliable. Two: It appears that Ginebra stands a better chance of winning when they go just a bit deeper into their rotations. And three: I humbly admit that my prediction is wrong. In that case, bring on three more exciting games, please!
Tweet of the Week
“If you ever put up a DeRozan banner, I’ll pull that thing down myself”
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) November 3, 2024
— Drake on DeMar DeRozan pic.twitter.com/l0fdlKFO4b
Not gonna lie…I’m snickering as I type this.
So you mean to tell me that a rap icon, after taking the biggest L of his professional career, is now acting all tough against a friend of the dude that took him down? Threatening to sabotage the rightful tribute that an NBA franchise might want to give one of its most beloved stars?
While we’re at it, here’s another Tweet. Our eyes might be deceiving us, but it does look like Drake avoids Demar DeRozan’s gaze moments after putting on a gangsta face.
Face it, Aubrey. You lost to The King from Compton—and I ain’t talking about DeRozan, either.
