What's the main reason why Spurs lost to OKC Thunder in 2016?

[Rusty]

Spurs were 67-15 that season. Second to the dubs.

What I remember is this, Anus Kanter and Steven Adams absolutely abused us on the rebounding thanks to the turd tower(boris diaw/david west) that Poopovich kept insisting on in the line-up.

LMA started out hot but cooled down the rest of the series. Kawhi didn't play well majority of the series.

:downspin:

[kht]

No answer for KD and Westbrook... and rebounding... no answer for Kanter/Ibaka/Adams and throw in the rebounding efforts of Westbrook/KD. It was a wrap.

[Joseph Kony]

Spurs were 67-15 that season. Second to the dubs.

What I remember is this, Anus Kanter and Steven Adams absolutely abused us on the rebounding thanks to the turd tower(boris diaw/david west) that Poopovich kept insisting on in the line-up.

LMA started out hot but cooled down the rest of the series. Kawhi didn't play well majority of the series.

:downspin:
pretty much this. Kawhi and LMA didn't play as well as the series went on and there was definitely some questionable officiating but the getting obliterated on the glass was the biggest reason imo

[exstatic]

Tim’s second knee went bad. He rested it for a while, came back well for a couple of weeks, but it crapped out in the playoffs, which is why Kanter and Adams feasted, and why Pop had to play other players more minutes.

[Fusternino]

Not staggering Duncan/LMA/Diaw/West correctly. Flat out not playing Boban.

Of course this could've all been averted by never signing West in place of a legit center.

[Down Under]

Duncan's good knee blew up midseason. It was over after that.

[Seventyniner]

Duncan's good knee blew up midseason. It was over after that.

Yup. There's a reason Duncan retired after that series. He said he'd play until the wheels fell off, and they finally did.

[alpha_HaZE]

Tim’s second knee went bad. He rested it for a while, came back well for a couple of weeks, but it crapped out in the playoffs, which is why Kanter and Adams feasted, and why Pop had to play other players more minutes.

This, this man knows what's up.

[daslicer]

Like others said Duncan's good knee went bad and caused him to be washed up. If the Spurs had 2015 Duncan instead then they would have won this series.

[RC_Drunkford]

Not staggering Duncan/LMA/Diaw/West correctly. Flat out not playing Boban.

Of course this could've all been averted by never signing West in place of a legit center.

hit the nail on the head with this one

[Dex]

Not staggering Duncan/LMA/Diaw/West correctly. Flat out not playing Boban.

Of course this could've all been averted by never signing West in place of a legit center.

The frustrating thing was West was automatic from midrange all season and then it completely dried up in the playoffs.

[gambit1990]

The frustrating thing was West was automatic from midrange all season and then it completely dried up in the playoffs.
i was about to say that he did his job in the RS. that okc matchup wasn’t for him though. and pop didn’t recognize.

[r0drig0lac]

Greg Poppovich

[Dennis the Menace]

Greg Poppovich

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Size, okc bigs murdered us

[GAustex]

Greg Poppovich
poop

[ismael-robert]

Start a thread digging up 4 yr old terd and post answer to own question with 1st post...must be really bored

[Leetonidas]

Tim's knee is a decent answer but the reality is the 2016 Spurs were one of our best teams ever talent wise and should never have depended on going as far as a 39 year old Tim Duncan would take them. If Pop had stopped playing West and Diaw constantly against Kanter and Adams and played Boban here and there I think Spurs win that series

[poopbox]

Pop refusal to play Boban. Would have kept OKC off the boards and spurs probably win in 6.

Another mental midget team that never got over any mental block except to beat the spurs...just like the clippers.

[exstatic]

Tim's knee is a decent answer but the reality is the 2016 Spurs were one of our best teams ever talent wise and should never have depended on going as far as a 39 year old Tim Duncan would take them. If Pop had stopped playing West and Diaw constantly against Kanter and Adams and played Boban here and there I think Spurs win that series

The reality is that every ring team depended on Tim, even 2014, no matter what his age. He’d always answer the bell when others were playing sub par, like Kawhi in games 1-2 in 2014.

[exstatic]

Pop refusal to play Boban. Would have kept OKC off the boards and spurs probably win in 6.

Another mental midget team that never got over any mental block except to beat the spurs...just like the clippers.

The new rules were already in effect, and Westbrook would have played him off the floor in two or three minutes by switching.

[OldMan88]

The new rules were already in effect, and Westbrook would have played him off the floor in two or three minutes by switching.

Same old story with the NBA... Spurs get good & win a championship, NBA tweaks the rules to keep that from happening again.

[SpurSpike]

If I recall weren't the refs making some terrible calls that basically cost us the series?

[spurs10]

If I recall weren't the refs making some terrible calls that basically cost us the series? It was definitely bad. A ridiculous call at the end of Game two that swung the game. I left that game feeling sick.

[phxspurfan]

david west

Fuckin David West. That dude sucked ass. Then bandwagoned his way to a ring he really didn't deserve.

[SpurPadre]

Others pointed out the main reasons but Load Management really choked this series much like he did the year before when Matt Barnes made him his bitch.

[daslicer]

Others pointed out the main reasons but Load Management really choked this series much like he did the year before when Matt Barnes made him his bitch.

Agreed. He was terrible for half of the series.

[baseline bum]

The reality is that every ring team depended on Tim, even 2014, no matter what his age. He’d always answer the bell when others were playing sub par, like Kawhi in games 1-2 in 2014.

Or Kawhi in 2015.

[south side spur]

Can we just stop with this Boban nonsense? This is almost as bad as the freaking Scola BS. Pop played Boban in game 6 and that chump picked up like 4 fouls like in 2 minutes. Just stop already. Boban was the human victory cigar nothing more. Kawhi the supposed great defender couldn’t slow Durant OR Westbrook.

[poopbox]

The new rules were already in effect, and Westbrook would have played him off the floor in two or three minutes by switching.

Versus jump over the turd towers for layups, which is what he did in the series anyway ?

[exstatic]

Versus jump over the turd towers for layups, which is what he did in the series anyway ?

Kobayashi Maru.

[duncan2k5]

Anyone who watched the games clearly saw it was the rebounding... We would have westbrook and KD in check, only to have the midget towers give up a momentum starting offensive rebound and score to okc

[duncan2k5]

Others pointed out the main reasons but Load Management really choked this series much like he did the year before when Matt Barnes made him his bitch.

Choke?he wasn't a star at that point...LMA was still the guy insisting on being top dog,and he fell off a cliff after the first couple games both defensively and offensively...okc made him look tiny on the boards

[exstatic]

Choke?he wasn't a star at that point...LMA was still the guy insisting on being top dog,and he fell off a cliff after the first couple games both defensively and offensively...okc made him look tiny on the boards

That was TWO YEARS after he won his Finals MVP. He was FIRST TEAM ALL NBA that year. He choked.

[LaMarcus Bryant]

I think West fucked us but overall that was not as important as Duncan's knee and Kawhi showing us how soft he is. Kawhi's performance Clippers 2015 and Thunder 2016 were total total choke jobs.

LMA cooling off I understood, they crowded him out.

[spurraider21]

OKC bigs murdered us tbh... diaw/west were getting annihilated. and as for Duncan, the wheels fell off. wasn't a great way to see him go out

[poopbox]

Kobayashi Maru.

OKC would have had to win a different way with Boban on the floor. All they did that series was shoot trash shots and get offensive rebounds cause somehow Pop thought a frontcourt of west and diaw could compete athletic with okc bigs...

[exstatic]

OKC would have had to win a different way with Boban on the floor. All they did that series was shoot trash shots and get offensive rebounds cause somehow Pop thought a frontcourt of west and diaw could compete athletic with okc bigs...

You play Boban, he fouls out in ten minutes, while being dragged out on the perimeter, and turned into a defensive turnstile, THEN they abuse the turd towers. Same outcome.

[SpurSpike]

The refs were fucking terrible, here are a few articles to refresh the memory. The Spurs should have won that series tbh. I will never forget how pissed i was at the refs that year.

Game 2 - https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/15450702/late-non-call-oklahoma-city-thunder-win-san-antonio-spurs-offensive-foul-refs-say

Game 5 - https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs/2016/story/_/id/15511570/nba-2-incorrect-non-calls-end-spurs-thunder-game-5

[Chillen]

Spurs had one of their better teams talent wise on paper but the OKC series Spurs just got beat good by OKC who wanted blood for the 2014 loss. Of course if Spurs had beaten OKC next opponent would have been the Warriors who won 73 games, and Cavs in the Finals. Duncan's knee was hurting. Spurs needed Pau Gasol in 2016 not the next few seasons, it would have allowed Tim to rest. On paper though that team should have won a championship. LMA, Duncan, Manu, Parker, Kawhi, that's a big 5 but some players were past their prime and Kawhi played terribly vs OKC.

[spurs1990]

It was definitely bad. A ridiculous call at the end of Game two that swung the game. I left that game feeling sick.

Dion Waiters sideline shove that wasn't called and the Spurs subsequent total botching of the steal and 3 on 1 fastbreak to win the game.


Others pointed out the main reasons but Load Management really choked this series much like he did the year before when Matt Barnes made him his bitch.

Leonard had no impact considering he was the franchise guy at this stage.

[Phenomanul]

The refs were fucking terrible, here are a few articles to refresh the memory. The Spurs should have won that series tbh. I will never forget how pissed i was at the refs that year.

Game 2 - https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/15450702/late-non-call-oklahoma-city-thunder-win-san-antonio-spurs-offensive-foul-refs-say

Game 5 - https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs/2016/story/_/id/15511570/nba-2-incorrect-non-calls-end-spurs-thunder-game-5

Even with Tim's bad knees and our lackluster collective rebounding the Spurs were never out of those games...

The shove at the end of Game 2 (non-call on Waiters) and the bizarre foul calls at the end of Game 5 sealed the series in favor of the Thunder (Adams trips Danny Green who falls into Durant and Green gets assessed for the foul, then later Kawhi wraps Westbrook to try and stop the clock but the zebras swallow their whistle and instead awarded WB an and-one). Those games were horrible but the league clearly wanted a Thunder-Warriors WCF and they got it.

[Chillen]

Those games were horrible but the league clearly wanted a Thunder-Warriors WCF and they got it.

I still can't believe that OKC team choked away a 3-1 lead over Warriors. Those dudes should have played every possession like it was their last in that elimination game. They may have been able to beat Cavs in Finals. That Warriors team though those crazy dagger 3's from the splash brothers, ouch.

[John B]

Was outrebounded. But also the momentum after that no call on Ginobili. Had we won that game, it could’ve been a different story.

[spurs10]

The refs were fucking terrible, here are a few articles to refresh the memory. The Spurs should have won that series tbh. I will never forget how pissed i was at the refs that year.

Game 2 - https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/15450702/late-non-call-oklahoma-city-thunder-win-san-antonio-spurs-offensive-foul-refs-say

Game 5 - https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs/2016/story/_/id/15511570/nba-2-incorrect-non-calls-end-spurs-thunder-game-5 Yeah game 2 was bad and game five was worse.

[gambit1990]

tony played spectacular down the stretch and especially against bigs at his age. there's no way he should've been traded for chris paul. no way cp3 would play better in 2020 than tony in 2016. because tony wasn't a system player, not at all.

[RC_Drunkford]

Choke?he wasn't a star at that point...LMA was still the guy insisting on being top dog,and he fell off a cliff after the first couple games both defensively and offensively...okc made him look tiny on the boards

you still sucking dick I see