2023-24 NBA G League Finals

Result

Finals MVP: Ousmane Dieng

The Oklahoma City Blue's third championship counting its history under earlier names (as the Asheville Altitude in 2003-04 and 2004-05, before relocating to become the Tulsa 66ers and later the Oklahoma City Blue); this title, however, was won under the Oklahoma City Blue name, having trailed 1-0 before winning the last two games, clinched 117-100 in Game 3.

Games

Finals context

The 2023-24 Finals brought a championship to the Oklahoma City Blue under the franchise's current name for the first time, even though the underlying organization had actually already won two earlier titles in its long and well-traveled history: as the Asheville Altitude, the franchise won back-to-back championships in 2003-04 and 2004-05 before relocating to become the Tulsa 66ers and, later still, the Oklahoma City Blue. This 2023-24 title, won as the Oklahoma City Thunder's single G League affiliate, gave that one continuous franchise lineage three championships across more than two decades and three different city names -- a distinctive thread of continuity running through a league otherwise defined by unusually heavy franchise relocation and rebranding. The Blue had to work for this title, facing the Maine Celtics (the Boston Celtics' affiliate) in a series that opened with a Game 1 loss, putting Oklahoma City in an immediate hole. The Blue responded by winning Game 2 at home, 99-89, behind 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting from Thunder assignee Lindy Waters III and a well-rounded two-way effort from Ousmane Dieng (12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks), evening the series at one game apiece. Oklahoma City then closed out the championship on the road in Maine, winning Game 3, 117-100, with Dieng erupting for a game-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-6 from three-point range, plus 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, earning Finals MVP honors. Center Olivier Sarr, another player with Oklahoma City Thunder NBA experience, added a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double in the clincher. This series carries a documented research correction worth flagging: one AI-summarized fetch initially described the 2023-24 Finals as a single winner-take-all game rather than a best-of-three series, an error the league's own official game-by-game coverage clearly contradicts -- a "Blue drops Celtics to even series at 1-1" recap confirms Maine won Game 1 before Oklahoma City's Game 2 comeback, and the Game 3 recap explicitly describes Oklahoma City "winning back-to-back elimination games after trailing 1-0" in the series, both details entirely inconsistent with a single-game format and fully consistent with the 2-1 best-of-three actually played. Both Dieng and Waters III represented the Oklahoma City Thunder's broader organizational investment in developing young talent through its G League pipeline during this stretch of the Thunder's rebuild, a rebuild that would go on to reach considerable NBA success within the following couple of seasons -- making this title, won by players actively cycling between the Thunder's NBA and G League rosters, an early on-court signal of the young talent base Oklahoma City was quietly assembling.

Sources

• NBA G League official — Blue drops Celtics to even series at 1-1
• Maine Celtics (NBA G League) — Game Recap, April 15, 2024
• Eurohoops — Ousmane Dieng gets MVP nod, leads Blue to G League championship
• RealGM Wiretap — Oklahoma City Blue Wins G League Title