12 hours ago
"I always go back to the UNLV Rebels of the early 90s" - Dan Patrick thinks that the Thunder have been so dominant that they don't know how to play one-possession games
"I always go back to the UNLV Rebels of the early 90s" - Dan Patrick thinks that the Thunder have been so dominant that they don't know how to play one-possession games originally appeared on Basketball Network.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been so dominant this year, blowing out their opponents on a regular basis. The Thunder held a +12.8 points per game differential against the opposition during the regular season. In the playoffs, that number has dropped to +10.1 points per game, which is still impressive.
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However, popular podcaster Dan Patrick says that the Thunder beating their opponents with ease all season long came back to haunt them in Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals. According to Patrick, with the Indiana Pacers erasing a 15-point lead and making it a one-possession game, the Thunder forgot how to execute in clutch games and ended up losing.
"Teams that win by a large margin, I'm always very leery of them when they get into a one-possession game. You're winning by 13 points per game. And I always go back to the UNLV Runnin' Rebels of the early 90s. They're blowing everybody out. And I wondered 'What happens when they get into a one-possession game. If they do, they got into a one-possession game against Duke. They had problems with the inbounds pass, the play that was set up and Duke goes on to win the national title," the renowned journalist said.
UNLV did not know how to execute in a close game
The UNLV Runnin' Rebels entered the 1991 NCAA men's basketball tournament with an undefeated 30-0 record and an impressive 28.3 points per game average winning margin. Although two of their four NCAA tournament games before the Finals were decided by only eight points, they had never seen a one-possession game prior to the title game.
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Down by two points, 77-79, with 12.7 seconds left to play, UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian drew a play for star Larry Johnson. But after LJ received the inbounds pass, he could not get a decent look against Christian Laettner and ended up with a hurried pass to Anderson Hunt, who missed the potential game-winner. Patrick added that the Thunder looked lost, too, but at the defensive end.
"I'm screaming, waking up everybody at the house, and I'm going - with Haliburton getting the ball 'Don't let him go right. Make him pass it,' Don't let the best guy beat you, even though he played horribly. Tyrese Haliburton has become one of the great clutch shooters in NBA postseason history. The numbers back that up. They let him go right. Caruso doesn't double. He falls back on Pascal Siakam. And Haliburton raises and seals it. Pascal Siakam could have hit the game-winning shot. I would have been okay with that. I cannot let the guy who has done this over and over and over and over," added DP.
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Haliburton has been on an all-time run
Patrick has a point. The Pacers stealing the game in the last second is one thing. But letting Haliburton do it with ease is another. Anybody who has followed the 2025 NBA Playoffs since the first round knows that Hali has made a last-second game-winner in each of the first three rounds.
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It was pretty obvious that the Pacers were going to their star guard on that final possession. But as Patrick said, not only did the Thunder allow him to get the ball, but they let him dribble to his strong side and failed to double-team him. Maybe it was meant to be as some are saying the Pacers are a team of destiny. But maybe it's the Thunder forgetting how to execute in one-possession games because they've been too good this year.
Related: Paul Pierce says Shai Gilgelous-Alexander would be the best player in Thunder history if he wins the title: "This is one of the all-time great historical runs"
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
