Game 5 Preview: Hoping Time Stands Still

[Russo21]

So timvp is saying the thunder are a better team and only a miracle can help the spurs win




Great

what TiMVP said then he's talking . We got this!!

Go tim en duncan, go emmanuel freakin ginobili, go tony en parker, go stephen nasty jackson, go boris en diaw, go super rook leaonard, go the grizzly blair en tear the thunder apart rip the s to shreds.

off Bonner and Splitter miss the bus to the game or something useful like that.

Now im talking to you guys in here and in san antonio, everyone who bleeds black and silver. To the guys attending the game. Get us over the line boys. This home crowd better be louder and crazier then i have ever witnessed them. Help us out guys i know you can. Cheer crazier and louder then you ever have. Go home with no voice left at nights end. The Spurs need you.

Let's do this!!!! Drive for en 5

[TDomination]

Hmmm timvp, don't you think the same can be said about the Spurs in Game 4? Durant was on fire in the 4th, Ibaka had the 2nd best shooting night in playoff history, Perkins was on his way to scoring a season high, and yet the Spurs were right there in the 4th and cut the lead to four points a few times before they finally knocked them out. On the other hand, Parker and Manu were struggling, as were role players like Green and others. I think we have more than enough to win the series even with the Thunder's improvements in games 3 & 4.

I was thinking the same thing.

Are Thunder a great team? YES but so are the spurs. If we both played our absolute best basketball, honestly its a toss up and I would have to give the advantage to the home team.

I felt like Thunder were playing so amazing in Game 4 but we were right there in the end. I'm praying that being at home will be enough to put us over the top for game 5. The energy that the players receive from sleeping in their own beds, being in front of their own crowd will make difference. Hopefully it translates to a win tonight!

[Mal]

Spurs dont need Bonner to spread the floor. Thunder simply give Spurs room to shot an open 3. They crowd the paint and leave shooters open. If only Green, Jax, Neal were able to hit those

[Keepin' it real]

Durant was on fire in the 4th, Ibaka had the 2nd best shooting night in playoff history, Perkins was on his way to scoring a season high, and yet the Spurs were right there in the 4th and cut the lead to four points a few times before they finally knocked them out.

Yep. As well as OKC played, the only thing that kept the Spurs from winning was the 2nd luckiest playoff shooting performance of all time. There's no way that will happen twice more in this series, so unless the Spurs suffer a key injury, they should prevail.

[TDomination]

what TiMVP said then he's talking . We got this!!

Go tim en duncan, go emmanuel freakin ginobili, go tony en parker, go stephen nasty jackson, go boris en diaw, go super rook leaonard, go the grizzly blair en tear the thunder apart rip the s to shreds.

off Bonner and Splitter miss the bus to the game or something useful like that.

Now im talking to you guys in here and in san antonio, everyone who bleeds black and silver. To the guys attending the game. Get us over the line boys. This home crowd better be louder and crazier then i have ever witnessed them. Help us out guys i know you can. Cheer crazier and louder then you ever have. Go home with no voice left at nights end. The Spurs need you.

Let's do this!!!! Drive for en 5

lol I really wanted to Roll my eyes at your post but as I continued reading I began getting energized.

Our crowd BETTER bring it tonight. Im talking about a crowd that is standing and cheering for the majority of the game. We got homecourt for the entire playoffs. Lets make it an advantage. If we win all of our home games, we will be champs!

[TDomination]

Yep. As well as OKC played, the only thing that kept the Spurs from winning was the 2nd luckiest playoff shooting performance of all time. There's no way that will happen twice more in this series, so unless the Spurs suffer a key injury, they should prevail.

Exactly.

Even in the interview yesterday with Pop, he mentioned that hes not going to change much on defense because he knows he doesn't have to. Make minor adjustments but honestly he just knows that they are not going to shoot that ridiculous % again, especially on the road.

And IF they did....when then all we can do is and be at how stupid lucky they are

[DarrinS]

Spurs dont need Bonner to spread the floor. Thunder simply give Spurs room to shot an open 3. They crowd the paint and leave shooters open. If only Green, Jax, Neal were able to hit those

Who's going to step up and have one of those games like Jaren Jackson, Steve Kerr, Bruce Bowen, etc.?

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

You missed a part LJ.

What made Durant so successful in the fourth in game 4 was that we were switching every screen. Some fans will remember this exercise in futility against Dallas, Memphis, and the Fakers, in the past.

Well, it was back Saturday night. Nearly every possession of the fourth, and all but one of Durant's consecutive field goals, saw the Spurs switch the screens on the perimeter.

They were doing this most of the game, but what made this different was that Brooks started having Westbrook screen for Durant. So he kept getting Parker onto Durant, a brutal mismatch that Kevin was all too happy to take advantage of.

We made a tweak to the D later in the series of Durant scores after a timeout (putting Manu on Westbrook), but that simply resulted in Manu on Durant instead of Parker. As much as I like Manu, that's still a bad matchup.

We've got to fight over those screens, run some sort of a trap at Durant coming off them, something, or OKC will just keep running it over and over again like they did in game 4.

[Durant 35]

Should be a good one... No doubt we will go in with great confidence while spurs might be Abit concerned.

[jiggy_55]

Should be a good one... No doubt we will go in with great confidence while spurs might be Abit concerned.

That could be true... but the experience of most of our players will keep them from getting rattled easily.

[Durant 35]

That could be true... but the experience of most of our players will keep them from getting rattled easily.

The vets yes but will be interesting how the young guns handle it all...

[therealtruth]

Should DeJuan Blair be in the rotation?
I still would prefer more Splitter or small ball first. Pop wasn't afraid to go to Tim-Tiago against the Clippers. Maybe that will help get Splitter's confidence going again. I called it earlier in the season when Pop started messing with Splitter's minutes that we would no longer see the Splitter you could run your offense through on the block. Now's he's become strictly a pick and roll player.

Should the Spurs show the OKC's role players more respect?
Yes

Should the Spurs throw double-teams at Kevin Durant in the fourth quarter?
Throw different looks. You can't give consistent looks against a great player.

Should Pop overhaul the offense?
No.

Start SJax over Green. Get Kawhi defending Westbrook and Jax on Durant. Bring Manu and Green off the bench. Green played well at the 3 in the Clippers series and Manu can help get him going.

If the Spurs had a guy on their team catch fire going 11 for 11 they would of won game 4

Why chance it? Hope on the defensive side wont get the Spurs far. Stops will.

At the least put a hand in face and be prepared for the drive. Have a guy with the ability to recover soon enough guarding Ibaka. He probably will miss a few playing away from home but he has well and truly proven he can sink the open jump-shot .

It's not just about allowing open shots. It's about allowing open and in rhythm jumpshots. The Spurs have to disrupt OKC's offensive rhythm.

[Obstructed_View]

If the Spurs don't run, none of that matters.

[therealtruth]

You missed a part LJ.

What made Durant so successful in the fourth in game 4 was that we were switching every screen. Some fans will remember this exercise in futility against Dallas, Memphis, and the Fakers, in the past.

Well, it was back Saturday night. Nearly every possession of the fourth, and all but one of Durant's consecutive field goals, saw the Spurs switch the screens on the perimeter.

They were doing this most of the game, but what made this different was that Brooks started having Westbrook screen for Durant. So he kept getting Parker onto Durant, a brutal mismatch that Kevin was all too happy to take advantage of.

We made a tweak to the D later in the series of Durant scores after a timeout (putting Manu on Westbrook), but that simply resulted in Manu on Durant instead of Parker. As much as I like Manu, that's still a bad matchup.

We've got to fight over those screens, run some sort of a trap at Durant coming off them, something, or OKC will just keep running it over and over again like they did in game 4.

The Spurs have got burned by switching in the past meanwhile the Thunder have had great success with it.

[therealtruth]

I think it's obvious Pop has to maximize SJax-Leonard time on the court. Last series was more of a Green-Leonard series but this one requires more SJax.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I don't think thunder have improved as much offensively as you say.

Defensively, yes, and quite frankly that's all they need to best us.

Offensively? Harden and westbrook both had sub par games in game 4. Ibaka going Reggie Miller on us seriously was the difference

[TDMVPDPOY]

go hard or go home this game

[Capt Bringdown]

IMO we're in "it's gonna take a miracle" mode.
The playoffs is where you get exposed, and OKC is showing the world that the Spurs are not as good as their 20 game winning streak seemed to promise. OKC was rattled and perhaps intimidated in games 1 & 2. But now they're justifiably confident that they can beat the Spurs.

OKC have bottled up Parker and made Tim & Manu look old. With the exception of game 2, Spurs have been down in every game and in constant come-from-behind mode. OKC knows they can beat our defense because they've done it in every game.
Hoping for a miracle, but the Spurs are most likely done. OKC is the better team.

[Bulwark]

The Thunder front court had to go 22 of 25 to beat us. If they do that every game or even at a 50-60% clip from the outside then we can't beat them. But that performance will be difficult to replicate. Methinks it was a fluke.

That said, do I detect some serious doubt the Spurs can pull of a series victory with nothing but hope on their side?

[FromWayDowntown]

Game 5 officials: Scott Foster (crew chief), Mike Callahan, Tom Washington

Scott Foster
12th game in 2012, 96th career playoff game, 11th conference finals game (2nd in 2012 (Gm. 3 BOS/MIA))

2012 Playoffs:
SA: 2-0 (Game 4 at Utah, Game 1 v. LAC)
OKC: 2-0 (Game 4 at Dallas, Game 5 v. LAL)

Home teams: 39-24 since 2007, 7-4 in 2012

Spurs
9-4 all-time
4-2 at home
no previous conference finals games

OKC
3-3 all-time
1-2 on road
0-1 in conference finals (lost Game 3 v. DAL in 2011)

Mike Callahan
10th game in 2012, 129th career playoff game, 22nd conference finals game (2nd in 2012 (Gm. 3 BOS/MIA))

2012 Playoffs
first game for either team

Home teams: 33-23 since 2007; 5-4 in 2012

Spurs
14-8 all-time
10-3 at home
2-2 in conference finals (lost Game 5 v. DAL, 2003; lost Game 4 v. PNX, 2005; won Game 1 v. UTH, 2007; won Game 3 v. LAL, 2008)

OKC
1-1 all-time
0-1 on road (lost Game 3 at Memphis 2011 WCSF)
no previous conference finals games

Tom Washington
9th game in 2012, 111th career playoff game, 20th career conference finals game (2nd in 2012 (Game 2 of MIA/BOS))

2012 Playoffs
SA: 1-0 (Game 3 at LAC)
OKC: 1-0 (Game 5 v. LAL)

Home teams are 31-18 since 2007; 6-2 in 2012

Spurs
8-6 all-time
6-0 at home
2-1 in conference finals (won Game 6 at DAL, 2003; won Game 5 v. UTH, 2007; lost Game 5 at LAL, 2008)

OKC
2-1 all-time
1-1 on road
1-0 in conference finals (won Game 2 at DAL in 2011)

[Obstructed_View]

What made Durant so successful in the fourth in game 4 was that we were switching every screen. Some fans will remember this exercise in futility against Dallas, Memphis, and the Fakers, in the past.

And the Suns. Remember Grant Hill shooting jumpers over Timmy while he stood there with a dumb look on his face? Not a pleasant memory.

[Bulwark]

IMO we're in "it's gonna take a miracle" mode.
The playoffs is where you get exposed, and OKC is showing the world that the Spurs are not as good as their 20 game winning streak seemed to promise. OKC was rattled and perhaps intimidated in games 1 & 2. But now they're justifiably confident that they can beat the Spurs.

OKC have bottled up Parker and made Tim & Manu look old. With the exception of game 2, Spurs have been down in every game and in constant come-from-behind mode. OKC knows they can beat our defense because they've done it in every game.
Hoping for a miracle, but the Spurs are most likely done. OKC is the better team.

Apt handle... That was discouraging and I hope you are wrong but good points nonetheless.

[Bulwark]

go hard or go home this game

We'll be at home this game... I know: /smart a** remark.

[dbreiden83080]

So basically you feel if OKC plays to their full potential we can't win. I think the Spurs can and will win if they return to their full potential. I don't think we will see the best of the Thunder on the road.

[Capt Bringdown]

We need another episode similar to Jaren Jackson vs the Lakers in '99.

A lot of people scoff at the importance of role players, but look at what Ibaka and Perkins did in the last game.

IMO, role player(s) contributing in improbable ways are a necessary ingredient to championship runs.
I'd love to see Neal go ape in game 5.