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Gotta love circlejerk pieces from the other side.
http://newsok.com/western-conference...rticle/5408335
Watching the Thunder demise makes us focus, well, on the Thunder demise. The Thunder has lost six of seven games, lost its last three home games, and is in danger of missing the playoffs. An unthinkable state even factoring in the injury crush of this season.
But the Thunder demise has made us forget what we're also seeing.
History. The Spurs still are history in the making.
The 1-6 slide began two weeks ago, with 130-91 loss at San Antonio, and it continued Tuesday night with a 113-88 loss to the Spurs.
The truth about the Thunder is that this team isn't quite good enough to get anything done. The Thunder isn't inept when playing the Mavs or the Grizzlies or the Rockets. OKC without Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka just isn't quite good enough.
But against the Spurs, the Thunder looks different. The Spurs make everyone look different.
That's what San Antonio did last season, when it won a fifth NBA championship in a 16-year span, and that's what the Spurs are doing this year, when they have rallied to again become perhaps not just a contender, but even the NBA favorite.
That rout two weeks against OKC started what is now an eight-game winning streak for San Antonio. All eight of those wins have been by double digits. Included in those eight wins have been games against the Thunder twice, Golden State, Memphis and [Dallas].
The Spurs are 52-26, only 11/2 games behind Houston for the No. 2 seed in the tightly-bunched Western Conference.
No one wants a piece of the Spurs. Not now. They are old and they are ancient and they still are playing basketball like the game was invented just for them.
On Feb. 26, the Spurs were 34-23, and even the Thunder had designs on catching San Antonio, trailing the Spurs by just two games.
Since then, San Antonio is 18-3.
"Defensively, we've been better, but these last 10 to 15 games we’ve really turned the corner and playing solid defensively, and that’s really going to be the key for us from this point on," said Tim Duncan, who this month turns 39 and had 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots, playing less than half the game Tuesday night. "We’re shooting the ball a lot better than we did. If you put those two things together and all of a sudden we’re playing better than we did."
The Spurs of the previous two seasons made us forget what San Antonio usually does. The recent Spurs have played great basketball throughout the season. But in years past, the Spurs didn't sweat the regular season. They geared up for the playoffs. This season was an extreme, of course.
Did the Spurs know they would rally back to form?
"We hoped," said Boris Diaw. "Knowing for sure, it's maybe pretentious to say that. But we definitely hoped we would get back on track. No reason why we wouldn't get back to a good level of playing basketball. We were doing it all last year. Got the some players, no reason not to come back here."
The question is, can the Spurs repeat their level of play from the 2014 playoffs, when they ushered out the Miami Heat in a five-game NBA Finals, after beating the Thunder in six games?
"I don't think we ever going to play that way again," said Diaw. "It was very special during the Finals. But the way we played during the season, yeah, For sure. I think we can get back to that."
Some would say the Spurs already are there.
So as the West playoff positioning hits the last week, here's a piece of advice for the Clippers and TrailBlazers and Rockets and Mavericks and Rockets. Avoid the Spurs. Avoid the Spurs as long as possible.
Gotta love circlejerk pieces from the other side.
basically, "they beat the out of us. so watch out."
Nothing against the author but is anyone really going to listen to playoff advice from OKC?
OC has won more playoff series over the last three years (6) than any team other than the Spurs and Heat. This column was directed at teams like Houston and GS so I'd say it's appropriate.
Wonder if we'll see some strategic tankery from other teams? They are ting their pants with how well the Spurs are playing right now.
OK. I didn't read it.
OKC is looking like they will miss the playoffs. Crazy.
Spurcle Jerk!Gotta love circlejerk pieces from the other side.
Sounds dirty.
Not really crazy. Once Durant got hurt the first time, they were ed.
No Durant or Ibaka, Jackson and Fisher are gone, Westbrick can't win every game by himself. I was going to be more surprised if they made the playoffs, tbh.
I'm fine with it, too. OKC wasn't going to sniff the second round anyway, not against GSW. And honestly, I'd rather have Anthony Davis in the POs than Westbrick.
To do that, we need more consistency from Parker, and for Patty to find his stroke again.The question is, can the Spurs repeat their level of play from the 2014 playoffs, when they ushered out the Miami Heat in a five-game NBA Finals, after beating the Thunder in six games?
Then again, if Kawhi's recent performances have hinted at anything, it might not matter, he might take over the playoffs all by himself.
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