The Oklahoma City Thunder Feel Different This Time Around

Getty Images/AP Images/Ringer illustration Playoff basketball is back in Oklahoma City. And despite the parallels to the Baby Thunder from a generation ago, the new iteration of this team is its own beast. "Nobody is making a YouTube mix of all your badass screens with a Rick Ross track playing over it." —Nick Collison Game 1 of the Thunder's first-round series against the Pelicans was this past Sunday, April 21. Five years to the day from OKC's last home playoff game, a 111-98 Game 4 loss to the Trail Blazers in 2019. Terrance Ferguson played 33 minutes. Raymond Felton was an important rotation piece. Hard times. It's not what you want. Vibes in the dumpster, right next to the hope. Then Dame hits the wave shot at the end of Game 5. Series over. Russell Westbrook and Paul George were traded that offseason. Those were not the days. But maybe these will be? After some time in the dreaded middle and a subsequent multiyear tankathon, my beloved Thunder have returned to the playoffs armed with a 1-seed and home court against everyone not named the Celtics. It feels like a reintroduction to the big time, and I wanted to come back home to Oklahoma to be in the building, experience the...