Oklahoma City Thunder 113 – San Antonio Spurs 99
Thunder wins series 4-2
It would have been a crime for the Thunder not to win this series after the Game 5 win at San Antonio. It felt like an emotional bridge was crossed in that game for both teams with the Thunder growing up a little and the Spurs finally starting to show their age.
The Thunder put the self-doubt, the demons, and the Spurs away in Game 6 with a closeout 113-99 win to advance to the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
This marks the fourth time in the last six seasons the Thunder have advanced to the Western Conference Finals. This marks the first time since 2012 the Thunder will begin the Western Conference Finals with a healthy ball club.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as usual led the Thunder to victory as they combined for 65 points in Game 6. Durant scored what has to be the quietest 37 points I’ve ever seen on a 12-24 night. For good measure he pulled in 9 rebounds as well. Durant didn’t have what would be described as a blockbuster series, yet in Game 4 and Game 6 he scored 41 and 37 points respectively as the Thunder won the last three games of this series and four of the last five after being humiliated in Game 1.
Westbrook was Westbrook as usual scoring 28 points and dishing out 12 assists. Consider this–if the Thunder hadn’t melted down at the end of the Game 3 home loss–it’s conceivable they would have rolled an inside straight against the Spurs winning four games in a row and ending the series in five games. Think about that as you start weighing the Thunder’s chances against the Golden State Warriors.
Steven Adams is my series MVP despite the heroics of Durant and Westbrook. To me, the series changed in Game 2 and Steven Adams was a huge part of that game and the others which followed. He was a beast and his competitiveness, toughness, and will to win was contagious.
Bill Simmons will have to come up with something other than the Harden trade from this point forward. Harden may indeed be a top ten player in the league, but Steven Adams gives this team something they’ve never had before in a center who can defend, rebound, and finish on the pick and roll with Russell Westbrook.
Andre Roberson scored 14 points in this game going 3-5 from behind the arc. Go figure. You have to believe at this point the basketball gods are firmly in favor of the Thunder this postseason with Roberson hitting three threes in a game. Don’t discount destiny, karma, and good luck–the Thunder are finally getting some coming their way after a season of grief and despair of things going wrong beyond the pale of losing some basketball games in the fourth quarter.
OKC’s bench was quiet in this game, but the Thunder starting five scored a combined 102 points so it wasn’t a huge detriment as the Thunder led 55-31 at the half in this one.
Actually, what transpired tonight could have happened in 2013 if Patrick Beverly hadn’t taken out Russell Westbrook’s knee, or in 2014 when Serge Ibaka got hurt before the Western Conference Finals, or last season before Kevin Durant missed 55 games due to a Jones’ fracture.
But for historians, the bridge was crossed tonight–the Spurs look old even with Kawhi Leonard playing for them.
One bridge crossed. Another awaits named the Golden State Warriors of 73 regular season wins and in defense of their NBA championship.
This is the series everybody has been waiting to see, wanting to see, and hoping to see.
Throw out the regular season. It means nothing at this point. This is a new season for the Thunder. The season they’ve been waiting for almost to the point of four years.
Consider this in closing, Billy Donovan is no longer a rookie NBA coach. He’s now 8-3 against the likes of Rick Carlisle and Gregg Popovich in post season. Granted, players always make the coach, but Donovan has shown he can roll and change on the fly.
These Western Conference Finals hold the possibility of being epic. We can only hope the play matches the expectations when all is said and done.
Mike Jackson