The 2nd round series between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder has lived up to its billing through 5 games as we had another nail biter with the Thunder pulling off the upset on the road in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are showing why they are both superstars of the highest caliber in the NBA and the Spurs super duo of LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard has played at an elite level most of the series as well.
There has never been any debate over whether the Thunder possess more star power and talent than any team in the league. They legitimately boast two of the league’s top four players in my opinion, but with their inefficiency as a team at times, unwillingness to move the ball around and get everybody involved consistently, propensity to turn the ball over (they were 26th in turnovers in the NBA during the regular season) and inability to hold a late lead (they led the NBA in 10 point leads blown in the 4th quarter) most assumed that the San Antonio Spurs and their experience and efficiency would outlast the Thunder to set up a western conference finals showdown with the Golden State Warriors.
That hasn’t been the case though as the talent, age and depth gap between the Thunder and Spurs has been noticeable in this series and once the Thunder have conquered their demons and played smarter, more focused basketball it appears as though the Spurs don’t have the necessary firepower to compete.
Talent almost always wins in the NBA and when talent is playing as well as they are for the Thunder, that is something that is too much for even the Spurs to overcome.
Westbrook and Durant were special during game 5, just check out this mind-boggling statistic:
Russell Westbrook (35 Pts, 9 Ast) & Kevin Durant (23 Pts, 5 Ast) scored or assisted on 80 of Thunder's 95 points. pic.twitter.com/XYz4yPBjwi
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 11, 2016
The Thunder have the two best players in the series and legitimately 5 of the top 8 players in this series. The combination of Steven Adams-Serge Ibaka-Enes Kanter have dominated the Spurs on the glass with their youth, energy and athleticism.
They are getting extra shots, better shots and are taking better care of the basketball. They are ranked 4th in the postseason in turnovers out of 16 teams, ahead of the Spurs and have the best point differential in the 4th quarter in the playoffs, that is real growth as a team.
Tim Duncan has aged considerably in this series and is getting run off the court by the Thunder’s superior big men, only averaging 3 points and 3 rebounds per game.
The average age of the Thunder’s core is 24.8 years of age while the average age of the Spurs core is 30.8 years of age, with five of their rotation players 33 or older.
The Thunder have been the thorn in the side of the Spurs ever since they shocked the Spurs by winning 4 straight games in the 2012 western conference finals after the Spurs had won their first 10 playoff games and it only seems fitting that they may put the nail in the coffin for the big three era in San Antonio.
