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What media are you watching? I’ve seen plenty people talk about it, but it’s not a major point of contention.

OKC clearly feels that past a certain point the rest is more valuable than a low probability comeback.

I remember how the Thunder would blow out so many teams by halftime to where Shai would sit out the 4th quarter. I guess they just like to rest their starters whenever the score seems lopsided one way or the other.

I have no issue with it. If the game is over pull the starters and prepare for game 7 at home.

OKC reached 64 points with 8:23 to go in Q3, cutting San Antonio’s lead to 8.

Their next basket came with 55 seconds left in the quarter, and cut San Antonio’s lead to… 26.

That was with their best players in the court. Wemby even took a three and a half minute break during that and it didn’t matter because the Thunder still scored 0 points in those three and a half minutes.

It wasn’t happening.

Because its the playoffs. Why keep your starters in if its futile? Give them the extra rest ahead of game 7 on your home court.

As a certified OKC hater, I don’t see any problem with this.

It’s the smart thing to do.

They were down by 26 going into the 4th. They couldn’t shrink the deficit below 20. I don’t see what the issue is?

Anyone who doesn’t understand they were saving their legs for game 7 after it got out of hand just flat out doesn’t know ball. Get a grip

How was the whistle for SGA in both games? I know in Game 6 he didn’t have a favorable whistle and ended up playing poorly. No point keeping him in if he can’t bait the fouls 

so let’s say a major rotation player gets injured in a blowout game cuz they were still in trying to make a run, now it looks like a stupid coaching decision right? they didn’t score for a while 7 minutes man, that game was over

Its a scheduled loss.

A lot of people here saying to rest the starters for the next game, but I think that could be a mistake. Spurs starters are getting equal rest and Thunder are supposed to have the better bench and overall players across the board. I understand resting, but giving up that early even strategically doesn’t make the most sense to me.

Maybe they could’ve made a comeback, maybe SGA gets injured and misses game 7, maybe SGA and other OKC players are fatigued and dealing with ticky tack injuries making it seem more valuable to rest these guys than put more minutes on them in a loss. As you say, anything could happen.

I think the media would have a field day if Shai or Chet got injured trying to come back down 20. That seems worse than resting your guy’s to try and win the next game.

The games were over. Come on man

This happened in the Spurs-Heat series back in the day. Veteran teams understand how important energy is in a series.

It’s their strategy so far it worked the first time, lets see if it pays off in game 7.

Because with how banged up their roster already is one injury would remove any chance of winning game 7

They were getting pumped in both games and have lost two of their main three ball handlers to injury (Jdub played yesterday but your not gunna risk his injury out there). The knicks win was one in a million, no point in tiring out Shai in a game we’re not going to win

Rest for the next one

Also they weren’t getting calls couldn’t grift back into the game

Why leave starters in when Carter Bryant is charging at sga like that with no protection or plumper telling McCain he has one more for him? Better to get rest and protect players.

Well OKC is down 2 of their 3 ball handlers and the Spurs have a healthy roster. What happens if SGA gets hurt while they’re down 20? 

You think OKC can have Caruso or Wallace bringing up the ball and facilitating the offense for 48 minutes in game 7?

People equate the Thunders depth with depth of facilitators, which they don’t have now. You lose Shai and this team scores under 80 points at best. 

Shai plays almost the entire 3Q. Hes resting and comes in with 7-10 mins left in the 4Q. The game was out of hand at that point, no point playing him.

If you don’t get call to your favor, you ain’t going to change the outcome. OKC already knows which refs are there in the first minute.

It’s a battle of attrition since it’s a 7-game series, and they have the upper hand with home court advantage. I’m guessing they’d rather rest up their starters and win the next game instead of attempting to make a comeback.

Its a new meta in NBA for a while. If its not game 7 you  put white flag if point difference is great. Denver almost won against OKC using that

Cos they’re worn out

Why do people have an issue with this, that’s just smart. 7 game series is a marathon not a sprint. Spurs are also a significantly better team than the Cavs.

It’s resting for the next game. Valid strategy if you have game 7 at home.

They were down like 25 at the start of the 4th. Why would they put starters in when they could just rest for Game 7? The performance in the 3rd doesn’t mean they gave up. Basketball can be a momentum game and if they just couldn’t get anything going, that doesnt mean they weren’t trying

This is a team that actively coaches exploiting the refs instead of playing through contact. They are not a “tough it out” team, they are mentally fragile, as evidenced by the Caruso camera shove and the general meltdown they had in the beginning of game 6 when they weren’t getting their usual calls. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the decision had little to do with maintaining their starters physical health but rather their mental health going into game 7.

Because they’re worried about the Sprus aggressiveness leading to injuries.

This is hard for me to comprehend as a knicks fan. 

I would watch thibs playing an injured kat in the 4th quarter with two minutes left when the game is essentially over. And it would be December 

1. fatigue; they were the last team standing last season ( over 100 games played) and already are dealing with lots of injuries (they look exhausted at times)
2. the Cavs are a joke, the spurs are a real team
3. everyone knew this series was going to be a marathon, it was preordained to go 7, you run different speeds for different races

Shoot a member of the Thunder for every blowout this series

Look at Shai’s plus minus, that’s the Thunder trying to come back

They’ve been ass with him on the floor

They are playing with two primary ball handlers hurt, and playing in their like 200th game in two years, shit like that is going to happen. They got the one win they had to and SA and then played like it

Their 2nd and 3rd playmaker/shot creators are both injured. Shai’s been playing heavy ass minutes with big usage and it seems he has some lingering finger/wrist pain.

The last thing they need is for Shai to also get injured, because then their chance of winning the next game drops to 0%

Free throws ain’t gonna bring you back from that deficit.

The mental gymnastics is amazing. Doesn’t matter what the thunder do, you’ll all say it’s wrong

When things don’t go your way, just quit and try again the next time to save energy.

May things don’t go the Thunder’s way in G7.

It’s okay. They got the script. They already know they’ll win 105-92 tomorrow.

They’re not tossing themselves on the ground repeatedly just to lose. Too taxing on the body.

They know the refs in game 7 in OKC will call all their bullshit fouls for them. No point in even trying to win with legit basketball, they couldn’t. Just waiting on the ref bailout led by the biggest pussy in the history of the league, SGA.

While I think it’s “weak” to not even try to come back in a Conference Final game, it basically never happens. There’s some recency bias as 3 point shooting has become more popularized.

Since play by play started in 1997, a team winning by 20 wins about 95% of the time. That becomes significantly more if you’re talking about 4th quarter comebacks.

1997-2001 there were no comebacks of at least 20 points.

2002 the Celtics came back from 21 down to beat the Nets in game 3 of their series.

2003-2011 there were only 2 occurrences the most notable was the Celtics again coming back against the Lakers in game 4 of their 2008 series.

2012 the Clippers came back 24 down against the Grizzlies.

2013-2016 there was only 1 time it happened, when Golden State came back against New Orleans 20 down in 2015.

From 2017 to present, it’s averaged to become an almost annual occurrence, but some playoffs has more than others. 2020 and 2023 had none. 2018, 2022, and 2024 only had 1 each. 2021 had 2, but they were in the same series (ATL coming back against PHI)

2025 had the most ever with 6, the Knicks claiming 3 of them, the Pacers twice and OKC once.

In 2026 the Knicks and Pistons came back from 20 down. And you would think since OKC came back last year they’d be inclined to try because handing a game to your opponent seems silly, but it speaks to their confidence (and maybe arrogance) that they think they can win the series without attempting a comeback in a potential closeout game.

Oh and all these examples are of going down 20 at any point- not just come backs in the 4th!

If the refs arent gifting them a win they check out so they dont waste energy. Better to try with a nicer ref next game.

Just following the script. OKC will win game 7.

They threw in the towel after the Spurs had gone on a 20-0 run.

Tbh they won the next game after giving up. Maybe it conserves energy idk

Thunder decided that once they reclaimed home court after Game 3, they were good with riding the series out for 7 games if they had to. That why you seen give up in games 4 and 6, and looked really good in game 5. It’s a risky gamble, but in theory it should work for them based on how this series has gone for them.

Last night was a 5 point game in the early third, the narrative doesn’t really hold beyond they lost in the mid third quarter and the previous time, earlier. I feel the sentiment though they really looked over when they did 

You’re on the right track. So close. You’re almost there.

This whole series is ridiculous. It is almost like some gambler designed it or AI. This is really bad indication for future.

No way this is a real convo. They cut their losses and put it all on game 7 at home. Spurs were on fire and the thunder were clearly disconnected on offense and defense.

Yea try to win every game but the final goal is winning ⁴⁄₇.

None of you watched pacers v thunder. This happened most games in that series too