Before this series started I wrote down Tony Parker as my X Factor in this series. Not because I think he’s still one of the game’s best point guards, but more because at this stage in his career I felt how he got the Spurs into their offense would be a big deal as this series moves along.
Parker wasn’t the player of the game in Game 3. That would be Kawhi Leonard who made the biggest play of the night with a series changing offensive rebound with twenty seconds left which clinched a hard earned 100-96 win for the Spurs.
But here’s what Tony Parker was and Russell Westbrook wasn’t– pressure time functional. Sure, he scored 19 points adding 8 rebounds and 5 assists, but what Parker did was more. He made sure his two big guns in LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard got their touches. He made sure the offence ran thru their shots, not his. He made sure the ball moved and the Spurs got into their offense at the most critical times in the game. In a word, Tony Parker did what your point guard is supposed to do in taking care of the ball and distributing the ball.
For those of you not keeping tabs, the aged Tony Parker now has 23 assists to 2 turnovers in the first three games of this series. Nothing spectacular, but functional. He understands his role.
Before this series started I also wrote ‘Can Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook Actually Do This?’ What I meant by this was can these two stars together lead the Thunder thru the tough spots in the last six minutes of pressure packed playoff games against good teams like the Spurs, Warriors, and Cavs?
On Friday night in Game 3 the answer was a resounding no. They withered in the game’s final minutes. They made three horrible live ball turnovers in the game’s final four minutes which you just absolutely cannot do against the Spurs. Plus, and let’s be candid, Kawhi Leonard just outworked Kevin Durant for that game clinching offensive rebound which sealed the game.
When it mattered most the game’s biggest plays weren’t made by Westbrook or Durant, they were made by Leonard, Aldridge, and Parker.
I’m not a Russell Westbrook basher, but his overall decision making on Friday night wasn’t good. Steven Adams got one shot in the entire game. Enes Kanter only got a handful more. Combined–Adams, Kanter, and Ibaka got 15 shots off in the game. Unacceptable, especially on a night when Russell Westbrook was 10-31 from the field.
Both Westbrook and Durant had five turnovers on the night. Again–Tony Parker has two turnovers in the series.
Do the playoff math. With this tough home loss, OKC would now have to win three of the final four games of the series. That’s a very tough assignment against a Spurs team with the better coach, the smarter point guard, and two stars in Leonard and Aldridge who are both having a very nice series.
This was a game Oklahoma City just really had to have and when it mattered most it was the same old Thunder we saw time and time again in the fourth quarter this season. Not a team making plays, but instead turning the ball over and shrinking from the moment.
Obviously, OKC is now in an absolute must win situation in Game 4 on Sunday night at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. If the Thunder lose this game the series is basically over in either five or six games.
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant have to show the world if they can ‘Actually Do This or Not’. It’s time to see if the two stars can be what Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard will be for their team–namely, a functional point guard and a play making superstar who can make plays in the last four minutes of games against good teams.
Mike Jackson