Steven Mercado
By Steven Mercado
The San Antonio Spurs blew the Oklahoma City Thunder out of the water in the first two games of the NBA Western Conference Finals, but the Thunder returned the favor in Games 3 and 4. The Thunder’s explosive answer to the defending Western Conference champions and Serge Ibaka’s return was enough to convince everyone that OKC will win this series.
I wasn’t convinced. What? Was I the only one?
Many analysts were saying the Thunder now have the momentum in this series, especially with the defensive presence of Ibaka back in the starting lineup. Especially after Russell Westbrook’s 40-point, 10-assist and 5-steal performance, what could stop the rolling Thunder?
A veteran team that handles pressure better than most other teams could. The Spurs are that team and they did not struggle to halt any sort of momentum OKC brought into Thursday’s game. As I predicted during the Mid-Valley Sports Show on Tuesday night, the San Antonio fans sucked the life out of the Thunder and the Spurs strolled to victory.
It was not solely the energy that led to the Thunder’s demise. Gregg Popovich made some adjustments to the gameplan that worked toward OKC’s weaknesses. By spreading the floor with bigs like Boris Diaw and Matt Bonner, the Spurs prevented Ibaka from exuding his defensive dominance in the paint like he did at Oklahoma City.
Ibaka having to guard bigs on the perimeter led to easier penetration for the Spurs. Whenever the Thunder defense would collapse to stop the drive, the driver would kick it out to a shooter spotting up outside of the three-point line.
This strategy is obviously not foolproof, but it took the Thunder out of their defensive element and kept them on their heels. It will continue to give them fits and in the end, OKC does not have enough to counter the Spurs play on both sides of the floor.
Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan are the biggest contributors for San Antonio and are also the most consistent. Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard are both excellent players, but they are ultimately the X-factors for the Spurs. When those two players play well, the team usually wins.
Popovich assigned Leonard to Westbrook in Game 4. Westbrook scored a game-high 26 points, but when a player of his caliber shoots the ball 19 times and gets eight free throw attempts, an outcome like that is expected. Leonard’s quick hands and quick feet allow for him to be a great defender and sparks a lot of transition opportunities for the Spurs.
Leonard is great at running the floor and can do anything on the offensive end. Green is also good at running the floor and being the pure shooter he is, will spot up from outside the arc either in transition or when the ball is kicked out from a drive. Green also has a floater that he likes to use that works well when he attacks the basket.
Green and Leonard need to play well on a more consistent basis for the Spurs to complete their road to redemption.
San Antonio will win this series, but it will go to seven games. The way the Thunder are playing at home right now is too much for even the Spurs to stop. Westbrook is playing like a man possessed at home and Durant is nonchalantly scoring 30 points a game.
This NBA season will end with the same Finals matchup as last year, but will it end with the same champion? My cards are on the Spurs, but it shall be another great series.
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