Everyone assumed the San Antonio Spurs would
have a few minor hiccups in route to the Western Conference Finals, but
would nonetheless remain on their season-long collision course with the
Golden State Warriors for a shot at the NBA Finals.
Now the Spurs, who put together an historic
67-win regular season and were widely considered the second-best team in
the NBA right behind Golden State, are on the brink of elimination one
round too soon thanks to the stellar play of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook
taking control of Games 4 and 5, respectively, the Thunder are one
victory away from reaching the West finals for the fourth time in six
years and are part of one of the most memorable playoff series of recent
memory.
The series, now at 3-2 in Oklahoma City’s
favor after Tuesday’s 95-91 win on the Spurs home floor, has been rife
with incredible offensive and defensive displays and even loads of
controversy over the officiating. Typically, that’s what makes a series
intriguing, along with the high stakes of championship contention.
Described by Durant as a “maniac” after Game
5, Westbrook went off for 35 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists as
the Thunder overcame a six-point deficit with four minutes left in the
contest. And for the second time on their home floor this series, the
Spurs endured a difficult loss and some questionable calls.
Westbrook would lock up the victory with a
three-point play with 6.3 seconds left, but referee Jason Phillips
didn’t call an obvious intentional foul by Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard.
The no-call allowed Westbrook to fly into San Antonio’s LaMarcus
Aldridge for a layup and he’d knock down his eighth free throw of the
night to knock the Spurs on their heels.
“He fouled him,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
said after the game. “It was pretty obvious he fouled him, but every
call doesn’t get called. That’s the way the game is. I was more
concerned about the play before that with Durant’s shot. But as I’ve
said, sometimes you get a call. Sometimes you not. It happens to
everybody. Tough game.”
Leonard said he “definitely” fouled Westbrook,
and the play harkened back to the messy closing seconds of Game 2. The
NBA publicly admitted that referees missed five separate calls in the
final 13 seconds of the game, including Spurs guard Manu Ginobili
stepping on the baseline while Thunder guard Dion Waiters was trying to
inbound the ball, followed by Waiters blatant elbow to Ginobili’s chest
to create space for his pass, and three rather obvious holds or grabs
that by themselves should’ve garnered whistles.
However, it’s easy to focus on poor
officiating while disregarding the stellar play of Durant and Westbrook
to put Oklahoma City in such an enviable position. Durant has clearly
lifted his game. Averaging 26.8 points on 50 percent shooting for the
series, the four-time scoring champion went off for 41 points in Game 4.
Durant also played a strong facilitating role with five key assists in
Game 5.
Westbrook’s been vital in the series despite
his poor overall shooting numbers. He’s only connecting on 35.8 percent
of his total field goals, but the triple-double machine has found
numerous ways to keep the Thunder offense humming with 24.6 points, 7.2
rebounds, 10.2 assists, and 2.0 steals a contest. In the final four
minutes of Game 5, Westbrook scored seven points to lift Oklahoma City.
Much of the credit still belongs to the team
as a whole, particularly when it matters most. The Thunder have
seemingly put their fourth-quarter woes from the regular season behind
them. Billy Donovan's squad managed to lose more than a dozen
fourth-quarter leads this season, but in Game 5 they held the Spurs to
6-for-21 shooting in the final stanza after limiting them to only 16
points in the fourth quarter of Game 4.
“When you are not making shots, and you’re not
defending at the level necessary, it’s really hard to close out games,”
Donovan said. “We’ve given ourselves a chance, in my opinion, because
we’ve defended better coming down the stretch. And when you do that, you
give yourself a chance. That’s been the message.”
The Thunder seemed to have gotten that message
in the first round, when they cruised past the Dallas Mavericks. It
only took five games, and the Thunder outscored the Mavs in the fourth
quarter of the final three games. It has mostly carried over against the
highly experienced Spurs, with the Thunder dominating them in the
fourth quarter in back-to-back games.
Clearly, the Thunder’s two best players and
the entire squad are clicking at the right time with a lot going in
OKC's way. It should be difficult to close out the Spurs, but the
Thunder have already proven they aren't going down without a big fight.
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