Draymond Green believes it’s do or die for OKC Thunder in Game 7, not just for this year, but for the rest of their future.
NBA fans will be treated to the two best words in all of basketball this Sunday: Game 7. The Indiana Pacers forced the Oklahoma City Thunder to a Game 7 in the NBA Finals.
The Pacers put on a great performance, shutting the Thunder down on both ends. In fact, the Thunder set a new record against the Pacers, going on a six-minute scoring drought.
Jalen Williams had a historically terrible performance, ending the game with -40 in the plus/minus category.
Their poor performance cost them dearly, and now, the OKC Thunder and Indiana Pacers will play in the NBA’s 20th Game 7 in Finals history.
But according to Draymond Green, it isn’t just the championship on the line for the Thunder; it’s their future as a franchise.
Speaking on his podcast, Draymond Green previewed Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Thunder and the Pacers.
Tapping into his own experience in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Green pointed out that the Thunder are facing the pressure at home. And should the Pacers complete the miracle win, he doesn’t expect the Thunder to ever recover from the loss emotionally.
“It’s a coin flip. All it takes is one Kyrie Irving shot to flip the game, one LeBron James chase-down block. That’s what OKC is up against; they were supposed to win. The pressure is all on them.
“Indiana is coming out is coming out with a free swing and they are coming out playing loose like ‘we got nothing to lose, we were never supposed to be here in the first place.’
“I want to see what OKC is going to do because if they don’t win this championship, they may never win the championship.
“I think they are in a tough position if they don’t win a championship. When you get the opportunity to win a championship, if you win it, you give yourself the opportunity to win more.
“But if you lose it, now you start tweaking stuff, and those tweaks could put you further away than you were.”
It’s hard to say which team has an advantage heading into the game. One could argue the Oklahoma City Thunder have an edge because they’re playing at home and have already won a Game 7 in these playoffs.
But at the same time, the Thunder had the chance to wrap the series up in Game 6. Instead, they put up their worst performance in the playoffs so far.
And in doing so, allowed the Pacers to have their best performance yet and build confidence coming into Game 7.
What makes this even more beneficial for the Pacers is that they’ve shown they can win at the Thunder’s home.
As things stand, Game 7 is just too close to call. This is why NBA fans are so excited, as we are sure to see urgent and desperate basketball from two of the best teams in the NBA. And whoever wins gets to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
