Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on how OKC playoff crowd help Thunder prepare for road environment

USA Today

a day ago

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on how OKC playoff crowd help Thunder prepare for road environment
If you look up at the jumbotron enough times, you'll see a noise decibel meter reach over triple-digit points at least once. As the Oklahoma City Thunder are in the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years, a global audience has familiarized itself with the homecourt advantage the title favorite enjoys.
The Thunder entered the championship series as the popular pick over the Indiana Pacers. Easy to understand why. You don't need a master's degree in basketball. OKC had one of the greatest regular seasons ever. That's translated to the playoffs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had one of the best scoring campaigns ever as an MVP winner.
After Tyrese Haliburton stunned the OKC crowd with a Game 1 game-winner, the Thunder bounced back with a 123-107 Game 2 win. They still need to do work to regain homecourt advantage, but it was a solid start after they dropped the ball to open the series.
The Thunder hope they'll get the chance to clinch a championship on their home floor. You don't need to look way too far back to see the type of intangible boost they receive in front of their fans. They blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 to clinch the Western Conference Finals.
For visiting media from across the world, it's been quite the culture shock to see such an active NBA crowd. The Thunder faithful received comparisons to notorious sports environments, like international soccer games. Gilgeous-Alexander talked about it after Game 2 and how it weirdly prepares them for the opposite.
"It helps a lot. It feels like throughout the whole playoffs the crowd has found a way to get louder every game. I don't know how they do it. Yeah, it's special to be able to play in front of them," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "It honestly makes the road games a little bit easier because it feels like it's almost not as loud as it's been at home. Yeah, they're special. The best fans in the world."
Let's see if Pacers fans can make Gilgeous-Alexander eat his words. They'll host their first NBA Finals games in 25 years with Games 3 and 4. The Thunder travel on the road with the hopes of at least a split. But they've shown all year they could certainly take both if everything clicks for them.