Unthinkable just a week ago, the Oklahoma City
Thunder can send the San Antonio Spurs packing out of the postseason
should they prove victorious in Game 6 of their best-of-seven series
Thursday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Thunder managed to learn from their
dreadful 32-point loss in the series’ opening matchup, and have since
taken three of the four, including two on the Spurs home court, for a
3-2 lead and the chance to bounce San Antonio for the first time since
2012’s Western Conference Finals.
Oklahoma City’s enjoyed otherworldly offensive
performances from stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in their
last wins. Durant’s garnered special praise for his defense on San
Antonio’s leading-scorer Kawhi Leonard and at times guard Danny Green.
"Kevin is one of our better perimeter defenders," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said, according to San Antonio News-Express.
"Kevin is a rare guy. He gets a lot of credit for his offense — and
rightfully so — but last series he was guarding J.J. Barea. (Now) he's
guarding Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green. There have been times he's been on
(Boris) Diaw. There's been times he was on Dirk (Nowitzki in the first
round).
"I've got a lot of confidence in Kevin
defensively. He's smart. He's long. He's got a good understanding of
positioning, how to get his length involved. I don't think people
realize what a terrific defender he is."
Durant and Westbrook, along with big men Enes
Kanter and Steven Adams playing very well, will have to repeat their
solid defensive performances in order to knock the 67-win Spurs out of
these playoffs.
The Spurs have been off from long-range and in
particular have struggled scoring in the fourth-quarter. In Game 5, a
95-91 Thunder win, San Antonio went 8-for-18 from deep, but six of those
makes belonged to Green, and in Game 4 they were held to 2-for-12
shooting from three-point range and managed only 16 fourth-quarter
points compared to Oklahoma City’s 34.
The Thunder have in particular clamped down on
Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge. The first-year Spur totaled 79
points and shot 75 percent from the field in the first two games, and
while he’s scored 20 or more points in the last three games Aldridge
hasn’t connected anywhere close to the same clip. Game 5 was especially
hard for Aldridge as he went 6-for-21 from the field.
Tipoff: 8:30 p.m. ET
TV Channel: ESPN
Live Stream: Watch ESPN
Betting Odds: San Antonio -2 points
Over/Under: 197 points
Prediction: San Antonio over Oklahoma City, 102-95
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