When did the Oklahoma City Thunder last make it to the……
OKC entered the playoffs with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, but their season was ended by Luka Doncic’s Mavs. Let’s examine their playoff record.
The Dallas Mavericks dashed the Oklahoma City Thunder’s hopes of reaching this year’s NBA conference finals. Mark Daigneault’s men were eliminated in the semifinals, losing the series 2-4. Oklahoma City began the season as the No.1 seed in the Western Conference, finishing first with a 57-25 record. They breezed through the first round, defeating New Orleans 4-0, but were repeatedly pushed back by the Mavs in an exceedingly tight series that they initially led before being forced to retaliate after falling down twice.
In his end-of-season interview, Daigneault expressed his pride in his team and the progress he has observed, both personally and collectively: “If you look a year ago, at the trajectory of the team, the trajectory of individual players, the growth of the team… I think we made a tonne of progress.” Now, at the end of every season, you are never
Putting the finishing touches to the picture, regardless of the circumstances. We still have a long way to go, a lot of progress ahead of us, and a long path to travel. I am quite encouraged with the progress we have made. These are high-level games that have taught individual individuals where they need to grow, as well as our team where we need to develop, and we are learning those lessons and allowing them to sink in. It’s vital to take a step back and see the big picture, which is really promising.”
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Best Postseason Campaigns
This was Oklahoma City’s first appearance in the playoffs since 2020, when they were eliminated by Houston in the first round. Oklahoma has made it to the postseason 33 times since its first appearance in 1975 as the Seattle SuperSonics, led by Bill Russell. The Sonics defeated the Knicks in the first round, but they were outplayed by the Celtics in the playoffs, losing 4-1. The squad advanced to the semifinals the following year and again in 1977, but lost to the Warriors and Suns, respectively.
Bob Hopkins led the Seattle SuperSonics to their first conference final appearance in 1978. The club finished fourth in the regular season (47-35) and faced a Lakers team that included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Adrian Dantley in the first round. The Sonics won games 1 and 3 to secure their second postseason triumph in team history, advancing to the semifinals against the Trail Blazers. The series ran six games, with Seattle prevailing 4-2 and advancing to the conference final for the first time.
Leave a Reply