In 2012, the Thunder beat the Spurs in 6 games after trailing 2 games to zero in the Western Conference Finals. The combined margin of victory in those 6 games was 51 points. One of the players on the 2012 Thunder team doesn’t play for them anymore (James Harden) and another one was hurt and missed the first 2 games of this series (Serge Ibaka).
This year, the Spurs again had a 2 games to zero lead…in Game 1, the Spurs won by 17 and in Game 2, the Spurs won by 35. Yeah, a pretty damn impressive 52 points margin of victory!!! The Spurs made everything look so easy while the Thunder got washed out from the court.
Man, in Games 3 and 4 at Oklahoma City, the Thunder rolled (that will be my only Garth Brooks reference ever and I promise that) and the Spurs looked like the bad news bears. The Thunder won both games by a combined 22 points, but it felt like 100 points. Was it the Serge Ibaka effect, playing on the road in a very hostile environment, the officials, or something in the Spurs drinking water? I think it was all of the above!! I will talk more about Serge Ibaka later in this BLOG.
Even before Game 5 started, I couldn’t help but think that whomever wins will win the series and advance to the NBA Finals. I was nervous and dude, I wasn’t even playing…I was at home laying in my comfy bed next to my beautiful wife watching the game. But, folks, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and turned the game off at the end of the 1st quarter and I woke up at the start of the 4th quarter and a huge lead for the SPURS!!! The Spurs won the game by 28 points and from what limited action I saw, the Spurs made the Thunder seek shelter from the storm surge (not Serge) of the Spurs!!
You know for Game 6, I kept telling folks (I don’t know if it went in one ear and out the other or if they actually digested it), that “it ain’t a series until a road teams wins a a road game.” And, that finally happened as the Spurs defeated the Thunder in Overtime by 5 points…without Tony Parker for 2nd half. I said this before, but if the Spurs want to win the NBA Finals, we need a healthy Tony and hopefully 5 days off before Game will help not only Tony but our entire team.
At halftime, I had a feeling that whatever team had the ball last would win the game and OMG, my feelings were kinda right on track. I watched game 6 with my parents and it was so fun to watch my mom and express her feelings!!!
I am so happy we don’t have to play a Game 7…I will be able to watch 24: Live Another Day!!!
I, for one, expected each game to be an absolute battle and the final scores being very very very close just like Game 6…not 4 double digit wins!!! It was a strange series, correct?
HOLY SHIT, the San Antonio Spurs are going to the NBA Finals for the 6th time in franchise history…they won in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007 and lost last year in 7 games to the Miami Heat.
The Thunder have the current MVP of the NBA in Kevin Durant (he is also a former UT Longhorn) and an all-star point guard in Russell Westbrook. They looked marvelous and extremely impressive. Oh, they are also both young dudes…25 years old!!! WOW!!! The Thunder are going to be a powerhouse team for many many years and I wouldn’t be shocked when they win the NBA Finals. The General Manager of the Thunder is Sam Presti. Sam and I were both Interns for the Spurs in 1999.
Serge Ibaka wasn’t even supposed to play against the Spurs because of an injury. I won’t make any speculations, but I guess when you team is in a dire need of a win and you think that one particular player will make a difference, you tell that that player to deal with the pain and play like there’s no tomorrow. In Game 3, Ibaka was a force defensively and also offensively. Ibaka played 29 minutes and had 15 points (he only missed 1 shot), 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. WOW…I was impressed and surprised at how effective he was (not only in Game 3), but in all the games he played.
The Thunder have a baseball Hall of Famer on there roster in Reggie Jackson. That is pretty cool!!!
I know I wasn’t the only person to ask, who the heck is this Steven Adams dude playing for the Thunder?
Hey, the Thunder have two players who played High School basketball in Texas...Kendrick Perkins is from Beaumont Ozen and Andre Roberson is from San Antonio Wagner!!!
Oh, the Thunder also have Nick Collison who was selected by the Seattle Supersonics with the 12th pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. The Seattle franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008 (you can read more about that move in the Wiki link). Collison played college ball for the Kansas Jayhawks and in 2003, Kansas lost to Carmelo Anthony and the Syracuse Orangemen in the Championship game.
Just a quick rant about that 2003 NBA Draft: LeBron James was the 1st pick, Carmelo Anthony was the 3rd pick, Chris Bosh was the 4th pick, Dwyane Wade was the 5th pick, current Spur Boris Diaw was the 21st pick, Kendrick Perkins was the 27th pick, current Spur Matt Bonner was the 45th pick, and current Portland Trail Blazer Mo Williams was the 47th pick (he didn’t see much playing time against the Spurs). Former Spur and former UT Longhorn TJ Ford was selected with the 8th pick and, Kirk Hinrich, a college teammate of Nick Collison was selected with the 7th pick.
The Thunder also have one particular player who Spurs fans dislike very much and that is Derek Fisher all because of his 2004 Game 5 buzzer beater three-pointer with .4 seconds left on the clock. Holy moly, I can’t believe that was 10 years ago. Will we ever forget? Not likely. Do you remember the amazing shot by Tim Duncan right before the Fisher shot? I do and it was electrifying!!
In the Spurs wins, the entire team played well. But, I really gotta give kudos to Danny Green…dude, his three point shooting was unstoppable and Boris Diaw…man, he did a little bit of everything (rebounding, defending, scoring, and passing) and did it quite well. In Game 6, Diaw had 26 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists…absolutely amazing.
The SAN ANTONIO SPURS will play the MIAMI HEAT in the 2014 NBA Finals. Yep, a rematch of last year!!! I can’t wait!!! WOW!!! Do you smell revenge for the Spurs? I do!!!
I am going to make a BOLD statement about the San Antonio Spurs and I absolutely mean it: “Spurs fans are spoiled for winning!!!”
Now, for my reasoning (thanks Wikipedia): In their 38 NBA seasons since 1976–1977, the Spurs have captured 20 division titles, 5 conference titles, and 4 NBA championships. They have made the playoffs in 24 of the last 25 seasons (since 1989–1990 which was David Robinson’s rookie year) and have not missed the playoffs in the 17 seasons since Tim Duncan was drafted by the Spurs in 1997 with the first pick. WOW!!!!!
Tim Duncan has 4 RINGS and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili each have 3 RINGS. The Spurs BIG 3 of Tim, Tony, and Manu are the all time winningest trio in the NBA Playoffs. Gosh, that itself is a HUGE accomplishment. Other extremely talented trios in the NBA Playoff history have been the LA Lakers (Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Micheal Cooper and also Magic, Kareem, and Byron Scott) and the Boston Celtics (Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parrish).
All I ask of the “basketball gods” is for
the SPURS TO WIN THE NBA FINALS!!!
GO SPURS GO!!!!
Tomorrow, I will publish my May health and fitness update.
Written By Mark Lieberman at 8:08 AM Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Labels: San Antonio Spurs No comments:
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