If the first round of the NBA playoffs has taught us anything so far, it’s that what we saw from the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers during the regular season was no fluke.
Oklahoma City’s 68 regular-season wins were the fifth-most in NBA history. So far this postseason, the Thunder have shown they’ll be a near-impossible out with a dominant four-game sweep over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Thunder won Game 1 by 51 points and Game 2 by 19 points before erasing a 29-point halftime deficit to win Game 3. Oklahoma City then won a closely contested Game 4, 117-115, to advance to the second round.
The 64-win Cavaliers have been the only team more impressive than the Thunder in these playoffs. Cleveland capped off the most lopsided four-game sweep in the history of the NBA Playoffs with a 55-point win over Miami on Monday. The Cavaliers outscored the Heat by a margin of 122 points across four games, breaking the league record originally set by the Denver Nuggets against the New Orleans Hornets in 2009.
Changing Of The Guard
Something else this first round has proven is that the NBA’s aging guard of superstars and their respective teams are no longer at the forefront of the championship conversation. Teams like the Thunder and Cavaliers have the most favorable championship odds, not only because of their stars but because of their depth and overall roster construction. Via collective bargaining, the league has taken steps to move itself from an era of star-driven dominance into an era where teams with the best overall roster are the ones equipped for postseason success.
Look no further than LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, who many analysts had penciled in as the prohibitive favorite in the West after the Luka Doncic trade despite the list of flaws the Lakers’ roster presented. Now down 3-1 to a well-rounded Timberwolves team led by 23-year-old Anthony Edwards, the Lakers are tasked with what would be a gargantuan comeback effort, considering they don’t have Minnesota’s depth, nor do they have the best player in the series.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are in a somewhat similar position. Down 3-1 to an Indiana Pacers team that’s one of the deepest in the league, Antetokounmpo is still the best player on the floor, but the Bucks simply don’t have the personnel beyond him to compete in the postseason. The Eastern Conference has become an arms race between the Cavaliers and Celtics, and frankly, one or two superstars won’t be enough to overcome their respective stockpiles.
Wants vs. Needs
With the NBA in the throes of an era that will be defined by team-driven basketball, I believe the league needs a Thunder vs. Cavaliers NBA Finals more than it even realizes. This hypothetical series wouldn’t just be a meeting of the season’s two defining teams, it would be a clash of historical proportions. Only two NBA Finals matchups in history have featured teams with more combined wins than the Thunder and Cavaliers had during the 2024-25 regular season, and both of those series featured Michael Jordan-led Bulls teams that won 69+ games.
I understand the casual fan would much rather watch the Celtics get their rematch against Stephen Curry. Or rather the Lakers somehow turn things around and set the stage for a potential Hollywood ending for LeBron. I know the TV ratings would prefer those scenarios too, but the NBA needs the Thunder and Cavaliers in these Finals to not only re-establish their respective brands and introduce a younger set of stars on the biggest platform, but to show every organization in the NBA that market size only holds you back as much as you let it.
Completing The Process
When the Thunder lost Kevin Durant to free agency in 2016, Oklahoma City fans shuddered at the thought of their franchise’s future in an uncharted market. Both times the Cavaliers lost LeBron, there was a sense of resignation that the highs he brought were simply no longer attainable. Either franchise winning the Finals less than a decade after losing a generation-defining star would complete an all-time great organizational comeback in American sports history.
If two of the most maligned markets in the NBA were to meet in the 2025 NBA Finals, it would also put to death the idea that only the league’s prime real estate can see championship-level success. There would be no more excuses for owners across the league who prioritize profitability with the excuse that they’ll never have the resources to compete with the Lakers or Celtics, legitimizing the league’s postseason and roster-building process in a way it’s arguably never been legitimized before.
