Sunday, May 27, 2012

Spurs-Thunder: Western Conference Finals Preview

This is the series everyone wanted in the West.

It has the great old vs new storyline that sports pundits dream about. It's become more compelling given the teams that the Oklahoma City Thunder has faced in these playoffs. The San Antonio Spurs have transformed themselves almost to directly compete with their only foe standing between them and the NBA Finals.

Here is how each team got to this point:

San Antonio Spurs

Before this season no one thought of an offensive giant when the Spurs came up. What people did think of is sound, fundamental basketball coupled with great defense. This year though, Spurs head coach Greg Popovich has changed his philosophy along with his roster mixing the championship pedigree of forward Tim Duncan and guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili with young players like forward Kwahi Leonard and guard Daniel Green. This move, along with earning Popovich Coach of the Year honors, can almost be seen as a direct response that the Thunder present with their athleticism. Turning the Spurs into an offensive juggernaut has surprised everyone, especially in the last month of the season when they snatched the top seed in the Western Conference from the Thunder.

In the playoffs the Spurs have been unstoppable with both their first round and semifinal series ending in sweeps of theire respective opponents (Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers). Duncan has seen a ressurection averaging 17.6 points, nine rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game this season. Parker is leading the Spurs in scoring averaging 19.1 points along with 7.1 assists. Ginobili has been his usual self coming off the bench averaging 11.3 points and 4.5 assists.

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder went into the season hoping to prove that their appearance in last season's Western Conference Finals was not a fluke, and they have succeeded. Led by their own Big 3 of forward Kevin Durant along with guards Russell Westbrook and James Harden, the Thunder have led the West almost the entire season. The defensive growth of forward Serge Ibaka has made the Thunder front line of him and center Kendrick Perkins one of the toughest in the NBA. The Thunder have also gained some championship pedigree in their roster as they signed guard Derek Fisher after losing guard Eric Maynor for the season due to injury.

In the playoffs the Thunder have literally gone on a journey facing the Old Guard of the West. In the first round they faced the defending champion Dallas Mavericks and swept them. In the second round they faced the Los Angeles Lakers and almost swept them. Durant has led the way averaging 26.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in the playoffs. Westbrook has not been far behing averaging 24.1 points and 4.4 assists per game. Harden, the almost unanimous (but should have been) Sixth Man of the Year award winner this season has stepped up as well averaging 17 points and two steals per game.

Now the Thunder face the last of the Old Guard in the Spurs, who has appeared to have prepared themselves with them in mind. There are matchups galore in this series but one will be the key to this series:

James Harden vs Manu Ginobili:

They both come off the bench, both can penetrate to the paint, and both can take over a game at any moment. Watching Harden and Ginobili play individually can be salivating as their games are almost mirror images of each other. Now they will most likely face each other for majority of the time they are on the floor together. Ginobili will have to use his experience to offset the youth Harden brings to the table. Harden will have to be sore savvy  in order to not get in foul trouble against a known flopper in Ginobili.

Prediction: Thunder win series 4-3

Like I said before, the Thunder have been going on a journey against the Old Guard of the West. Now they are facing their biggest test against a Spurs team that seems prepared specifically for them. While the Spurs have been playing excellent in these playoffs the Thunder may just be athletic enough to slow them down. This series will go the distance with great play throughout, but the Thunder will just have enough to get to their first NBA Finals since the franchise's Seattle days.

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