From the ‘Black Whistle’ to the Gods! On the Thunder Night, there is a cruel truth behind the controversy

series actually ended in the fourth game because of the Thunder's successful reversal. It seems that it is only a matter of time before the Thunder wins the championship. Failure to win the fourth game of the series is considered a turning point in Indiana's series, and perhaps this is destined to be an eternal regret for the Indiana people.

The Oklahoma City Thunder won the first championship trophy in team history. This youth team with Alexander as the core entered the playoffs with the record number one in the West in the regular season, defeating powerful enemies such as the Mavericks and the Timberwolves, and finally defeated the Pacers in the finals to win the championship. However, the victory came not only with applause, but also with overwhelming doubts - "Is the Thunder winning the championship a result of the league's hard protection?" During the finals, controversy over the referee's penalty always existed. Some fans pointed out that Alexander frequently got free throw opportunities in key games and was even labeled as a "body whistle". In the final G4 quarter of the finals, Alexander scored a free throw in a controversial penalty, directly pushing the game to a climax. These moments were compared by some fans as the "epic black whistle" of the 2016 Warriors and Cavaliers Finals, and they believed that the league intends to intervene in the game through referees. But the data level shows another side: the Thunder are only ranked in the middle of the league in the regular season this season. Although Alexander averaged 8.2 free throws per game, his breakthrough frequency and inside lethality (per-game breakthroughs per game, with a shooting percentage of 52.3%) are enough to support this data. Therefore, the so-called hard protection of the league is indeed incompletely accurate, but it is undeniable that the Thunder will indeed make more profits than the Pacers in the finals.

attributes the Thunder's victory to the "league hard protection", which obviously ignores the hard strength of this team. This season, the Thunder's offensive and defensive efficiency ranks among the top five in the league, with averaging assists, three-point shooting percentage, steals and other data. Alexander's "hard solution" is of course critical, but Chet Holmgren's frame protection, Dort's defense, and Jaylen Williams' all-around performance are also indispensable puzzles for winning the championship. In the playoffs, when facing teams with good inside strength such as the Nuggets and Timberwolves, the Thunder repeatedly reversed the situation with unlimited defense replacement and three-point firepower, and their tactical execution and resilience far exceeded outside expectations.