Stiles Points: Last Season's Play-In Tournament Trip Could Prove Large Saturday for OKC Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder have heard about their inexperience all year long. It is one of two concerns any consumer can raise about a 57-win team in the toughest conference the NBA has ever seen.

On Saturday, the team will embark on another first for this young group - their first playoff round game. Though, that is a bit of a technicality.

For all the hoopla that will follow Oklahoma City this postseason as they enter their year of firsts, the only place they have experience is inside the Smoothie King Center.

The exclamation mark on the 2022-23 season for the upstart Thunder is their play-in tournament win over the New Orleans Pelicans last April. Fighting their way through a sea of red to eliminate the Pelicans from the posteason.

Despite falling the next game in Minnesota to end a game shy of their first trip to the NBA Playoffs, the Thunder earned valuable experience on the road in a high stakes game.

Despite the rocking atmosphere in the Bayou, the Thunder weathered the storm and now knows what it takes to win in NOLA.

Without getting caught off guard by the road crowd, a win on Saturday afternoon would almost assure a series victory. In what is a pseudo must-win contest for the Pelicans as no team has ever mounted a 3-0 comeback.

Stiles Points

The OKC Thunder have envisioned their position-less model for years and are now taking advantage of the league-shifting.
Former Thunder first-round pick Darius Bazley explained what separates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from other players in a recent podcast. This is yet another person who praises the Thunder stars work ethic.
Saturday's game represents another early tip time which has been a boogeyman for the Thunder this season. Mark Daigneault sounded off on how they will handle it.
What is the rule of thumb for the aux in a road trip that features vastly different music taste? It should be a universal law - the driver gets to pick the tunes.

Song of the Day: Louisiana Saturday Night by Mel McDaniel.

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.