It’s game day. To be brutally honest, with the exception of the previous games against the Warriors, Cavs, and Spurs—this is really the first time I’ve been excited this season. This is the first time I feel like we’re going to find out if OKC is the real deal or just more of the same since the Harden trade.
Think about this, since the trade there’s always been various injury issues which have made it unfair to evaluate the Thunder. Not so entering this series. OKC couldn’t be healthier. Scott Brooks is gone. Kendrick Perkins is gone. Same with Thabo. Derek Fisher, Kevin Martin, Caron Butler, and Jeremy Lamb. All gone. Poof.
So here we are entering the beginning of reckoning for Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Billy Donovan, Sam Presti, and Clay Bennett.
Can Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as two of the world’s best five basketball players lead their team to the NBA Finals for the first time in their careers without James Harden or even Derek Fisher for that matter?
I’ve been reading our local scribes, the ones Bill Simmons refers to as the Prestettes and seeing what they think about the series. Nick Gallo and Royce Young can’t even be referred to as journalists because both either directly or indirectly make their living because of the existence of the Thunder. So I don’t even include them in the mix.
But the writers at newsok are actually journalists and try to be objective. Granted, they know they work in what is still basically a college market and are a little soft minus Darnell Mayberry, but they for the most part do a solid job. But they’re still the Presettes minus Darnell Mayberry.
I went through their series picks and takes, and for the most part they see it like I do, albeit Anthony Slater who has picked the Thunder in six games. I think Slater actually does a good job, so I’m keeping note of this pick in case the Thunder win this series.
Tramel, Carlson, and Erik Horne pretty much see it like me with the Spurs winning in either six or seven games. Darnell sees it with the Spurs winning in five games. Mike Sherman is the editor so he doesn’t count and isn’t included as a bona fide Prestette.
But back to the question above, can Durant and Westbrook actually do this?
True, OKC moved the ball better this season and upped their assists to around 23 per game, but here’s what they also did—they led the entire NBA in blown fourth quarter leads. How stunning is that sentence. With two of the world’s best five players, this team had more blown fourth quarter leads than either my putrid Philadelphia Sixers or the dumpster fire Lakers.
So, my primary question is if Durant and Westbrook can actually make the right ball decisions in the last six minutes of these games without Harden or Derek Fisher around? Because of injuries we’ve never really gotten the opportunity to see for ourselves if they can do this?
Can Durant and Westbrook finish games in the last six minutes? Can Durant and Westbrook do what Jordan and Pippen finally did when they got past the Detroit Pistons to begin their run of championships?
Even if you’re not a fan of either team involved in this series, it will make for a compelling watch because of the basketball history implications.
For the first time this season–I’m jacked.