Ex-champion believes Thunder could lose 1st round playoffs after Lakers exposed their flaws

NBA legend Paul Pierce makes his views clear on the OKC Thunder's playoff chances this 2024-25 NBA season.

Ex-champion believes Thunder could lose 1st round playoffs after Lakers exposed their flaws

Paul Pierce

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been on a roll ever since the 2024-25 NBA season started. The Thunder made a statement about the league by finishing first seed in the Western Conference. Led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder side looks unstoppable this year. However, ex-NBA champion Paul Pierce had an alarming take on the Thunder side.

Despite their dominance, Pierce does not believe the Thunder will make it past the ‘1st round of playoffs.’ That is quite some opinion, given the way the OKC side has been annihilating teams this season. On Pierce’s part, the Thunder recently lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, where the Lakers exposed them physically.

So Pierce believes that physically stronger sides like the Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves would easily defeat the Thunder during the NBA Playoffs. Per Pierce, it is the Lakers that have shown a blueprint to defeat the Thunder this season.

If the Thunder plays the Timberwolves in the 1st round, they might get bounced.

Paul Pierce said

However, this has not kept the Thunder from preparing for the NBA Playoffs. There are building-sized graphics all across Oklahoma City’s downtown. On Wednesday, shipping containers adorned with Thunder art were brought back to Scissortail Park. In addition, the town Thunder’s painting project got underway.

Downtown Oklahoma City was awash with blue and orange, from the Paycom Center through the Omni Hotel and Scissortail Park. This showcases the excitement among the franchise and its fans going into the NBA Playoffs. The way the Thunder side has performed all season, expectations are for them to reach the NBA 2025 final at the least, although it won’t be an easy road.

Nick Wright has a bold take regarding the Lakers-Thunder matchup

One thing is for sure: the Los Angeles Lakers surely exposed the Oklahoma City Thunder’s weakness during their back-to-back matchups. In the first game, the Lakers won by a huge margin whereas the Thunder overcame the Lakers in the reverse tie. However, Luka Doncic was ejected in the 4th quarter, while the Lakers were leading.

So if Doncic’s ejection had not come in the 4th quarter, the Lakers would possibly won the game. Regarding this, Fox Sports analyst, Nick Wright had an intriguing take on his show.

I was honestly shocked at how good the Lakers looked last night… I think they are better than the Thunder head-to-head.

Nick Wright said

His co-host Chris Broussard also chimed in claiming will the Thunder do this to the Lakers over 7 games. That’s quite a question after witnessing the Lakers dominating the No.1 seed in the West over two games. However, only time will tell whether or not the Thunder have the potential to overcome a side like the Lakers this season.

OKC Thunder made NBA history in win over the Lakers

With the season that the Thunder are having, they are bound to break and set new records in the NBA. That’s exactly what happened in their recent matchup against the Lakers. Thunder have now made league history as the regular season draws to a conclusion and the NBA playoffs draw nearer. The Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 136-120, giving them the most double-digit victories in NBA history (51).

They broke the 1972 Lakers record (50 wins) with their recent win. This is a huge achievement for the Thunder going into the NBA Playoffs. Interestingly, whichever team has achieved the most double-digit wins in a single NBA season, has gone to win the title at the end. Thunder fans will be hoping that their side does the same.

Given that, on Wednesday, the Thunder will play the Phoenix Suns in an attempt to add a 52nd double-digit victory to their record of double-digit victories.