Fashionable, even.  Improbability has defined the Thunder’s week, seven days without any big men. But on the final day, the Inevitable met the controllable for Oklahoma City: The casualties of its small-ball lifestyle shook hands with the shortcomings that were meant to be the Thunder’s strengths.

"I thought we played with great energy. I thought we did a great job of prioritizing Booker and making it difficult on him with denials and ball pressure and a crowd on him," Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said.