NBA

Is SGA having the greatest run in playoff history? 

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a win away from winning their first NBA title in franchise history, and if they win there is no doubt that SGA will be MVP.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a win away from winning their first NBA title in franchise history, and if they win there is no doubt that SGA will be MVP.
MANUELA SOLDI
Update:

“Shai, you can mark him down for 34 before they even get on the plane tomorrow.” Those were the words of Rick Carlisle after the Oklahoma City Thunder won Game 2 in OKC to even up the series at 1-1.

Warriors the best playoff team ever?

It’s hard to measure great Finals runs in NBA history. Obviously if we are judging a team then we could look at the team that lost the fewest amount of games on their way to the title. That would be the Golden State Warriors in 2017. They won 16 of their 17 games on their way to championship glory. They also set the record for average margin of victory with 13.5 points per game.

That’s got to be without question the most dominant playoff run by a team in the history of the NBA, but what about individual postseason performances? That’s where it gets tricky. Obviously points comes into play here, and I think that’s what we have to judge the best playoff run in the history of the NBA.

Let’s circle back to what Indiana’s coach Rick Carlisle said against SGA after OKC’s Game 2 win over the Pacers. You literally could do that (mark him down for 34 points) for three of the five games we have played so far. He’s averaging 32.4 points a game in the Finals, with Games of 38, 34, 24, 35 and 31 last game. The only reason he didn’t get 34 last game is because he had 10 assists.

The debate begins

This a debate which we will never get to the bottom of but here are the stats. Game 5 was SGA’s 15th game in which he scored 30+ points putting him on an already elite list of Hall of Famers. The other three to have reach that mark: Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. Kobe went for 30+ 15 times in the Lakers run to the title in 2009, scoring 30.2 ppg during the playoffs.

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Jordan set the record in the 1992 playoffs when he scored 30+ in 16 games during that postseason run as he led the Bulls to the second of three straight titles while scoring 34.5 ppg in the 22 postseason games. Olajuwon meanwhile had 16 games scoring 30+ to match Jordan’s record, and score 33 ppg in the same amount of games as the Rockets completed their back-to-back quest in 1995.

SGA and the Thunder are going to play their 22nd game of the postseason on Thursday night. They have a chance to bring OKC their first title ever, and if he drops 30 or more, he will join Hakeem and MJ on the short list of only players to drop 30+ 16 times in the postseason. He’s averaging 30.4 ppg during he playoffs. He’s already won the MVP, and a shoe in for the Finals MVP should the Thunder win.

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