Upset in Sight, OKC Must Overcome Warriors Team Embracing Underdog Role

OKLAHOMA CITY — We almost always know which team is going to win a playoff series.

Regular-season performance, home-court advantage, injured players, number of star players…it is a performance-driven but evidence-based process.

So as competitive as the individual games can be, there is a limit to the unpredictability of the end game in a series.

The Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors, though?

Wonderfully unpredictable. So different from the norm. Both teams worthy of full respect and belief.

When a series comes along in which we truly don’t know who is going to win—and even better, when we waffle on which team is actually the better team—it’s like basketball heaven.

As we reach Game 6 Saturday night in this series, we think we know the Thunder are positioned to win this thing. We think the Thunder, especially after another solid outing in their Game 5 loss Thursday night in Oakland, have flipped the script to be the better team. We think the Thunder will win because less than four percent of NBA teams have lost series after holding 3-1 leads.

Then again…

These are the Warriors. 

They won those 73 that no one did before. They are defending champs. Their roster isn’t missing anyone because of injury. Stephen Curry is still the miracle worker whose radar-homing missile launches somehow add peace to our world.

And if there were ever a team that could seize an unexpected victory by sheer unstoppable three-point barrage—the stock way any NCAA tournament underdog can get hot and win on a given day—it would be the sweet-shooting Warriors.

The Warriors are embracing the newfound underdog role.

“House money,” …

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