I have the same prediction.
Yes, these are daunting personnel matchups, but aren't the Spurs 8-2 against the same Thunder with basically the same one-on-one matchups the past two years?
I have the same prediction.
One important fact to remember: Parker already faced Harris and a somewhat nijured (as always) Paul, and dominated both. Westbrook faced the living zombie of Kidd and... nobody in the 2nd round (do the Lakers even have a point guard?)
That's a huge difference, and I expect Westbrook to struggle when finally confronted with resistance. I'm also convinced that the Spurs are going to get into his head and push him to play hero ball to the detriment of the team.
Contrary to you, I feel Westbrook is overrated right now. His main achievements so far has been to dominate teams with bad/no PG because he's been given the minutes and leeway to do so.
You forgot the floppingManu Ginobili vs. James Harden
... They're both left-handed guards who come off the bench that bring shooting, ball-handling, playmaking, passing, craftiness and a high basketball IQ to the table.
This is a key matchup and unfortunately one where I see the Thunder getting the upper hand. If there's one series in this postseason where the Spurs need Manu in top playoff form, it's this one.
I'll say I'm going to be very impressed if KL can slow down KD a bit, or even make him work for his shots, but Kawhi has been surprising me all year long. The only rookies playing with so much poise and control have been all-time greats, tbh.Kawhi Leonard vs. Kevin Durant
This being said I think it's more likely that Kawhi will unfortunately get into foul trouble early.
There's only one team in the whole NBA with THREE players in the top 10 in FTA, and that's OKC. Durant is #3, Westbrook is #7 and Harden #10. Only the Lakers have 2 players in the top 20, and SA has none.
The Thunder have been the true NBA darlings this year, being gifted an unbelievable number of calls. Whoever thought the Clippers were flopping are going to be introduced to the masters in the next series, and the refs are falling for it hook, line and sinker.
This is bad news for at least Kawhi and Diaw, and probably Duncan if he doesn't get at least a little bit of star treatment.
I'm not really afraid of Perkins, Nazr or Collinson. Ibaka is another issue entirely, especially since he possesses the ability to block the same player several times in a row and completely take him out of his game.Tim Duncan vs. OKC's Frontline
I know Fisher is the Spurs kryptonite, but his best days are definitely over (especially seeing the way the Lakers dumped him). He could still be clutch, but I actually don't think he will be on the floor any more at that point.Gary Neal vs. Derek Fisher
As somebody else pointed out, the Spurs are 3-4 in series against Fisher, so it's not like he killed us every time, but he was certainly a difference maker when it was close. I don't expect to hear much from him this series though.
One last thing to be afraid of: the Spurs are 8-0 taking out the Jazz and Clippers (two teams nobody was particularly scared of) while OKC is 8-1 taking out the defending champ and the Lakers, with the only loss coming with iffy reffing. Their run is at least as impressive as ours, although we have the advantage when it comes to margin of victory (OKC seemed to have a lot of highly contested wins).
All in all the Spurs match up well against OKC. I'm still very confident as I still think OKC is overrated, especially the way they crumble towards the end of the season. They are still young and despite their talent can still be dismantled by a team with more experience. I say Spurs in 5, each team winning all its games at home.
If each team wins all of its games at home, wouldn't that mean Spurs in 7? Spurs in five would imply an SAS win at OKC, since the schedule is SAS-SAS-OKC-OKC-SAS-OKC-SAS.
3 things that may be worth considering about a Spurs/Thunder series:
1) In the regular season, these teams faced each other three times, with all three times coming before Jack and Diaw joined the team.
2) Manu was out for all three games as well due to injury.
3) The Spurs still took 2 out of those 3 games (with Parker and Blair not playing half the game they lost due to injury/cramps).
Alot of people would have to have off games. Even in the LA series not everybody had a good series but it didn't matter. For the Thunder they just need Westbrook, Durant, or Harden to have an off game.
How do the spurs defend Durant coming off screens for open Js?
How do the spurs defend Westbrook walk up mid range j?
How do the spurs defend james harden pnrs?
If they somewhat contain 2 out of 3, spurs have a good shot
Haha that's right. So let's make that SA wins all its home games and steals the 2nd one in OKC.
Gary Neal is the x-factor this series off the bench. Don't be surprised to see him have a couple of big shooting nights.
Derek Fisher is playing 21 mpg in playoffs.I think Scott Brooks is overvaluing his importance based on his experience.Im expecting big minutes and big play from Gary Neal.
This series will be decided by defense. When 2 offensive juggernauts go at each other, the team that can defend against the others weapons will come out on top.
I don't think beating the Lakers was that much of an accomplishment. I really don't. Heck, Denver had a chance to beat LA. LA had leads in several games, but bad habits cost them in the 4th quarter. If Kobe was 27, he could play hero ball and get the W, but he ain't 27 anymore and tired legs leads to missed fadeaways from the perimeter.
The Spurs OTOH have been a model of precision execution the last couple months. Everyone provided the Clips with excuses, Blakes knee, Pauls hip blah blah blah. Well, Paul had a pretty good showing in game 4 when the Spurs were coming of the B2B and relaxed a little bit huh?
When healthy, the Spurs have always been able to develop schemes to frustrate elite level PG's. Billups, Nash and now CP3. They'll come up with something to limit Westbrook.
Oh, and the Spurs' 3pt shooters haven't shown any indication of shrinking under the bright lights. When the Spurs hit their 3's they win. ALWAYS!
Spurs in 6. MAX.
Any chances of Blair playing?
Fisher ain't on the Lakers anymore, and he's a lot older and slower. I'm not worried about him. Worry about Durant, Westbrook, and Harden.
Spurs in 5.
i think this series goes 6 or 7 games.
I'll say spurs in 7
timvp, how did Jazz Fisher do against the Spurs in 2007? was he the same Spurs killer he's been while on a Lakers uniform?
I just did a little homework looking at the three games they played and Spurs won 2-1, with one big road win.
HOWEVER....NONE, I repeat, NONE of the games included Manu, Boris, or Jax in our lineup. Our one loss did include RJ, take that as you will.
So realistically, comparing these teams becomes much more difficult b/c these players never even played against the Thunder this year. This happens to buoy my confidence at least winning through Games 1 and 2. Overall I'll take the Spurs, my team, in 5 on our drive for #5. We will win one at OKC, btw.
mando
Whoops, didn't see this, good points, same as mine!
Spurs in 7 or OKC in 6. El Che and his team still doing computations...
In one game OKC didn't included Harden.
It's going to be critical that Spurs hold serve the first two games. Let those kids steal one here and OKC is gonna be a madhouse.
Don't know if this is rhetorical or not, but Manu ing owned him. Scored on him, drew fouls, frustrated him. I think Fisher got at least one technical in that series because he was so pissed at Manu. I think one reason the Jazz fans booed Manu in the first round this year is because of the hurting he put on Fish in that series.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)