It’s not the Celtics that Charles Barkley predicts will win the NBA Championship.
The Boston Celtics, who dominated the New York Knicks on opening night 132-109, easily defeated the unfortunate Washington Wizards on Thursday, 102-122, moving up to 2-0 in their title defense campaign. Nevertheless, Charles Barkley of Inside the NBA was not persuaded to forecast the Celtics’ rematch as NBA champions despite these two outstanding double-digit victories. Rather, he picked the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the Larry O’Brien award this year.
“I don’t believe they’re simply going to the Finals; I believe they’re going to
During the show, Sir Charles stated via ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter, “to win the World Championship.”
Charles Barkley hedged his bets for the Celtics by declining to give his trademark guarantee, even though his forecast was that the Thunder would win the NBA this season.
There’s also some leeway in Barkley’s prognosis because his assurances typically don’t come to pass. But the Thunder may have the best chance of unseating the Celtics, who were the clear favorites to win the championship going into this season.
In their season opening, the Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 102-87, in part because of the Nuggets’ poor shooting performance, which included splits of 35.4% from the field and 17.9% from three.
But the Thunder also had a dismal three-point shooting performance, going just 8-36 for a little better 22.2%.
With Aaron Wiggins scoring 15 points on 7-9 shooting and newcomer Alex Caruso playing excellent defense and hustle despite scoring zero points, the Thunder’s strong bench performance helped win the game.
Russell Westbrook, a recent acquisition to the Nuggets, however, only managed six points on 2-10 shooting. In addition, while Westbrook was on the court, the Thunder scored 24 more points than the Nuggets.
Fans may see why Barkley selected the Thunder to win it all this year, even if one game is a very small sample size. While many other Western Conference contenders lost important players, the Thunder made a little roster boost.
For example, Denver lost a long-term two-way presence at guard, a position that neither Christian Braun nor Westbrook could adequately replace, when they lost Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Magic in free agency.
Though he could make another leap as the team’s only superstar, Anthony Edwards lost a perimeter partner when the Timberwolves moved Karl-Anthony Towns shortly before the season.
The Lakers are among the few teams who can match the Thunder’s numbers, primarily because to their inability to cope with their size and toughness. Additionally, except from Caruso, their team lacks championship experience.
On paper, the Celtics lead the Thunder by a wide margin as of Thursday, but an NBA season is lengthy, and anything can happen between now and June.
