LAS VEGAS — Oklahoma City vs. Houston in the NBA Cup semifinals a showdown of the top two teams in the West.
Not that you would know it if you only catch nationally televised games.
The NBA Cup may be more of an introduction for casual fans who have spent their fall and early winter focused on the NFL and college football playoff. Going into this season, the Thunder were the defending No. 1 seed in the West, the betting favorite, and the vast majority of pundits’ choice to win the West, yet they were not in the top 10 in number of nationally televised games. Houston wasn’t in the top 20. With its television broadcasts this season, the NBA has leaned into older stars — and with it, struggling teams.
Thunder, Rockets highlight NBA’s youth movement
OKC’s Alex Caruso recently re-tweeted a fan post pointing out that, starting Dec. 20, the Thunder were scheduled to go a month without a nationally televised game (they have since been flexed into a couple).
“At the end of the day, you want to put the best product on TV, and we’re one of the best products in the league,” Caruso said. “We got young stars, we got young elite role players. We got guys — people don’t even know what kind of basketball player Cason Wallace is in New York and in L.A. and Chicago and Miami, because they don’t get to watch us play on national TV…
“We have an excess of talent, and for them to be able to showcase that and event here, I think is really cool.”
The Thunder’s star and MVP candidate, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, agrees.
“As a kid, you grow up, you watch Lakers versus Boston on TV. You watch Miami versus Cleveland. You watch marquee matchups and you watch big games, and you dream about getting there one day,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “To be in this position is special. You don’t take it for granted. At the end of the day, you just want to win. But it’s pretty sweet to be highlighted and showcased in a way.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the main reasons to tune in — the man who finished second in MVP voting a season ago is averaging 30.2 points, 6.3 assists and 5.4 rebounds a night this season with one of the more unique styles of game in the league.
“A lot of teams are sitting back and trying to make him beat you with jump shots, specifically 3s, and I think he gets a head of steam and kind of he’s on his front foot and you’re kind of in retreat mode,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said of defending Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “So we want to pick up a little bit higher, be more physical, I think, show him a crowd a little bit more and give him some indecisiveness as far as that. Just don’t want to leave guys on the island the whole time.”
The challenge in slowing the Thunder is that it’s not SGA who is a problem; the team is stacked with creators.
“Everybody knows how you how unique they play and how hard it is to beat them…” Houston big man Jabari Smith said. “I think with them, it’s not necessarily much [off-ball] movement, but everybody’s just so unselfish. Everybody’s driving, everybody’s not driving to shoot, everybody’s driving to pass and create for others — and they have people who are good at that. Fast guards who are good at driving, creating too, and guards that are able to make that pass.”
If the Thunder — the No. 1 seed a season ago with an MVP candidate — fly under the radar, where does that leave a Houston team that is just starting to step into the spotlight?
Expect great defense
What can fans expect to see from the Rockets?
“I’d say we’re a deep, athletic, physical team. That’s what we’re trying to build,” Ime Udoka said. “[We’ve] been good on the defensive end, defensive minded, like to junk it up, be aggressive on that end. Unselfish and balanced on offense. Yeah, that’s the reputation we have kind of formed.”
The other thing fans will get in this game is what so many say they want more of in the NBA — defense. These are the top two defensive teams in the league. Oklahoma City is a little more physical with Isaiah Hartenstein in the paint, while Houston is swarming with its length and athleticism, but the end result is the same — turnovers and contested shots.
Oklahoma City and Houston played each other less than two weeks ago and it was a hard-fought 119-116 win for the Rockets. Whatever happens in this game, expect it to be close because neither team’s defense will let the other pull away.
All of it is a bright spotlight for two teams deserving of it.
“Just the ability to showcase, you know, the team we have,” Alex Caruso said. “We got a bunch of guys that are really good basketball players, really competitive and really close. So I think the opportunity for us to come out here and show that and put our brand of basketball on display is really good.”
And it’s good for the league — this is what the NBA Cup should be about.
