136 replies to this topic

[SBTarheel]

Thunder in 6...

Heat in 5.

Let's go!!

[SBTarheel]

Atrocious defensive effort in the fourth quarter tonight by the Thunder...This was a winnable game for them, Harden was basically non existent all night.

[mweb08]

Westbrook was poor offensively as well.

Ginobili had the best game of anyone today and that's really not all that surprising. He's a great player when healthy.

[SBTarheel]

Ginobli was unreal, they had no answer for him..

Amazing to me how Popovich finds roles for guys like Gary Neal, Danny Green...etc. What a master he is.

[Pedro Cerrano]

The Spurs are the deepest team in the league and the Thunder are somewhat limited offensively, meaning if they aren't making their jump shots they are in trouble.

This is why I think San Antonio wins the series.

[Pedro Cerrano]

If you're the Thunder you can't come into this game licking your wounds. Yea, the Thunder were insanely outplayed in the 4th quarter on Sunday but they showed they can hang with the Spurs for 3 quarters at least.

Despite being not as deep, if I'm the Thunder I'm really trying to run the Spurs out of the gym tonight. The Thunder are younger, more athletic and, ideally, can play at a higher tempo. This isn't a must-win game for OKC but if they get waxed tonight I'd imagine San Antonio picks up one on the road and closes them out at home in Game 5.

[SBTarheel]

If you're the Thunder you can't come into this game licking your wounds. Yea, the Thunder were insanely outplayed in the 4th quarter on Sunday but they showed they can hang with the Spurs for 3 quarters at least.

Despite being not as deep, if I'm the Thunder I'm really trying to run the Spurs out of the gym tonight. The Thunder are younger, more athletic and, ideally, can play at a higher tempo. This isn't a must-win game for OKC but if they get waxed tonight I'd imagine San Antonio picks up one on the road and closes them out at home in Game 5.

I agree 100%, and I think the public does too...The total has jumped 1.5 points since 11:00 this am. With scoring down throughout these playoffs, that kind of movement hasn't happened at all.

[Adam Wolff]

Really looking forward to this game. My respect for the Spurs has grown 10 fold over the last 6 weeks or so and I've thought all along that OKC was going to be the Western Conference representative in the Finals.

Would love to see this get to a 7th game, so I'll be pulling for OKC to even it up tonight. Although seeing the Spurs get that win streak to 20 games would be pretty cool as well.

[bnickle]

Is the lottery selection tonight???

[SportsGuy]

Is the lottery selection tonight???

Tomorrow night.

So, Heat vs Spurs final...who do you all like?

[Adam Wolff]

Is the lottery selection tonight???

Tomorrow night.

So, Heat vs Spurs final...who do you all like?

Man, I don't know. Spurs are golden right now as a team. Firing on all cylinders. But, as was said before, any time a team has the two best players on the court, that team will have a good chance. Wade and Lebron have looked unstoppable lately, so this matchup really would be an 'Irresistable force meeting immovable object' type situation.

I'm going to reserve making a prediction until the conference series are complete.

Anyone think OKC can make this interesting in the 4th?

[BSLChrisStoner]

I'm going to reserve making a prediction until the conference series are complete.

Anyone think OKC can make this interesting in the 4th?

Down 14.. might not make it interesting tonight, but they get so many possessions, they might. I still think this will be a long series.

[Adam Wolff]

Also, are Gregg Popovich and Tobin Bell the same person?



I'm going yes.

[SportsGuy]

OKC trying to make this a game.

[bnickle]

Not counting the Thunder out of this series quite yet. I think they'll win both at home. I also still think Boston will push Miami pretty hard as well. Obviously, though the money is on a Spurs- Heat matchup and at this point I would have to take the Spurs.

[mweb08]

I'm also not willing to assume it will be Heat-Spurs, but as Brandon said, that is likely.

BTW, the Spurs have some great players, but it can be argued that they don't really have a superstar (maybe Parker, but I wouldn't call him one), yet they're playing like an all-time team. This goes to show that team ball can prevail in the NBA even without real superstars.

[PD24]

I'm also not willing to assume it will be Heat-Spurs, but as Brandon said, that is likely.

BTW, the Spurs have some great players, but it can be argued that they don't really have a superstar (maybe Parker, but I wouldn't call him one), yet they're playing like an all-time team. This goes to show that team ball can prevail in the NBA even without real superstars.

Also goes to show just how good of a coach Pop is.

[PD24]

I'm also not willing to assume it will be Heat-Spurs, but as Brandon said, that is likely.

BTW, the Spurs have some great players, but it can be argued that they don't really have a superstar (maybe Parker, but I wouldn't call him one), yet they're playing like an all-time team. This goes to show that team ball can prevail in the NBA even without real superstars.

Also, while I understand your point about team ball being able to prevail even without superstars, I'm not sure this Spurs team is a good example to use because they are just so, so, so deep.

The Pacers don't really have a superstar and everyone talked about how they play so well as a team, but they pretty much reached their ceiling this year in getting to the second round and ultimately not really having much of a chance after the talent on the opposing team got going.

The Spurs are legitimately 12+ deep. They have 12+ players who are above average players. Most teams don't have anything close to that. So, yes, a team that is 12+ deep can beat a team of superstars, but I think it's an extremely rare case.

[mweb08]

Well while the Spurs may not have a superstar, they have 3 guys whom you could argue are top 20 players. The Pacers probably don't have a top 40 player.

[mweb08]

Another aspect of my point is that this is the way teams should aspire to play. Of course achieving that is very difficult, but many teams don't even bother trying. They go with much more iso and many more mediocre to bad shots by design. Melo, Kobe, Rose, Westrbook, Durant, etc.

Jason Whitlock has been talking about how MJ ruined the league in a way, and I think he has an interesting point. What he means by that is that he led the NBA from the style of basketball that the 80's Lakers and Celtics played to the style that MJ's Bulls played. The problem of course is that none of these guys impersonating MJ are as good, and many of them take it to an extreme beyond what MJ did, who was more a team player than some of these guys. On top of that, the media and fans have glorified that type of play, which has led to even more of it, especially late in games.

I don't like the Spurs, but I'm glad they're opening people's eyes to a better form of basketball.