The Thunder knew Saturday was a must win. Knew it as soon the final buzzer sounded Thursday. Knew it as soon as the Rockets took a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven playoff series.
Teams, after all, don't recover from 3-0 deficits.
So, Saturday became make or break for Oklahoma City.
But the crazy thing is, winning became even more urgent as Game 3 progressed. The Thunder was playing its best ball of the series. Solid defense. Attacking offense. This was much closer to the kind of team we've seen much of the season.
The Thunder had to capitalize.