The Thunder eliminated the Spurs with more overwhelming defense
The Western Conference Semifinals series between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder started with a blowout of epic proportions. The Spurs dominated the Thunder in every facet, winning by 32 in a fashion that seemed to serve as a statement on not just one particular game but the matchup as a whole. It was a brutal result that acted as a sign of clear superiority.
The series ended so differently that it should serve as a reminder that we never know as much as we think we do. Although Game 6’s final result — a 113-99 Thunder win — was not as extreme as that Game 1 blowout, Oklahoma City took resounding control of the contest early, led by 24 at the half, and made San Antonio look entirely overmatched before a fourth-quarter comeback helped the West’s No. 2 seed save face. The Thunder were clearly better than the 67-win Spurs and head into the start of a Western Conference Finals with the Golden State Warriors on Monday looking as strong as they have all season.
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The first three quarters saw the Thunder demolish the Spurs in a fashion few could have expected following four-straight close games. It started at the defensive end, where the Spurs were unable to create decent offense on more than a handful of possessions. San Antonio’s reliance on isolation plays from Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, and LaMarcus Aldridge had been a major storyline, but it reached its nadir as the OKC defense raised its intensity to new heights. The results were genuinely historic — the Spurs’ 31 first-half points were a season low, their fewest since November 2014 and fewest in the playoffs since 2009. San Antonio also shot 0-of-8 on three-pointers, the second time they had failed to make a triple in the first half this series after doing so just once previously this season. A team known for turning five-man ball movement into a league-wide trend looked slow, old, and unable to make adjustments.
The Thunder offense thrived not so much with its typical star-focused dominance as it did by not making mistakes. Though usually prone to turnovers, the Thunder committed just three in the first half. They did not give the Spurs any chances to get easy baskets, and this half-ending shot from Durant looked like a dagger despite there being 24 minutes left to play:
With the defense serving as a base, the Thunder got out in transition when possible to overwhelm the less athletic Spurs and relied on solid contributions from role players to supplement the play of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Those secondary performances from the likes of Steve Adams (15 points on 6-of-7 FG and 11 rebounds despite suffering from a migraine earlier in the day) and Andre Roberson (14 points on 3-of-5 3FG) were arguably the biggest difference in building up that sizable lead.
Then again, it sure helps to have Westbrook and Durant on hand for superstar performances. Westbrook played in a (relatively) toned-down fashion similar to his stellar Game 5, logging 28 points (10-of-21 FG) and 11 assists in 38 minutes. Durant took on the bigger role in this game, scoring 37 points (12-of-24 FG and 12-of-12 FT) with a clear attack mindset.
OKC’s excellence was so apparent that the game looked over before the end of the third quarter. It’s to San Antonio’s credit that they did not fold, although the circumstances of their comeback suggest it had more to do with the Thunder letting up than the Spurs solving the matchup. After suffering from a quickness deficiency all series, the offense found new success with 40-year-old Andre Miller taking the place of Tony Parker at point guard. San Antonio went on a 23-8 run to start the fourth quarter and looked to have captured the momentum when Danny Green cut the lead to 99-88 on a flagrant free throw with 3:45 remaining.
That’s as close as the Spurs got. A Durant turnover on OKC’s next possession gave San Antonio a second chance to cut the lead to double digits, but Serge Ibaka turned back a Tim Duncan lay-up attempt that quickly became a KD dunk at the other end:
It was a symbolic play whether or not Duncan decides to retire in upcoming weeks. The Spurs simply had few options in this series once the Thunder defense became engaged, and Durant and Westbrook created enough high-impact offense at the other end to make them pay. This was not a fluke, no matter their regular-season records. OKC out-played San Antonio in this series to become a deserving conference finalist.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
