Thunder clinch NBA finals berth with game 6 win

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night 107-99 to clinch the franchise's first NBA finals appearance since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle.  Kevin Durant played all 48 minutes of the game and had another sensational performance, scoring 34 points with 14 rebounds and 5 assists and even drawing his first charge of the season on Manu Ginobili.  Russell Westbrook gave Durant plenty of help, finishing with 25 points, 8 boards and 5 assists.
Tony Parker had 17 points and 5 assists in the first quarter as San Antonio took an 18 point lead.  Durant provided the Thunder with a momentum swinging jolt by knocking down a buzzer beating, contested 3-pointer at the end of the half to cut the Spurs' lead to 18.  The Thunder dominated the second half, outscoring the Spurs 59-36 and playing frenetic defense.  OKC refused to back down or accept that it would have to return to San Antonio for a game 7.
With the win the Thunder moved one step closer to completing the journey from NBA doormat to champion.  General manager Sam Presti deserves much credit for building a team that has become the envy of most of the league.  After drafting Durant 2nd overall in the 2007 NBA draft, and selecting Westbrook 4th overall in 2008, the Thunder began the 2008-09 season, the franchise's first  in Oklahoma City, with a 3-29 record.  From that point on the team has rapidly progressed into a title contender and one of the league's most respected organizations.  The Thunder made the playoffs the following year before bowing out to the Lakers in the first round, reached the Conference Finals last season where the team was defeated by the Mavericks, and now has earned the right to play on basketball's biggest stage, the NBA finals.
Kevin Durant's selflessness and unique nature for a superstar has allowed the Thunder to blossom into an NBA title contender well ahead of schedule, despite being such a young team.  Durant and Westbrook are only 23 years old and James Harden and Serge Ibaka are each 22, yet the team plays with maturity and a singleminded pursuit of victory.  Because Durant values winning much more highly than individual accolades and statistics, his teammates love and respect him, and have adopted his team first mindset. Oklahoma City has put together a special group of elite young talents who play together unselfishly, and has finally broken through to what the organization hopes will be the first of many trips to the NBA finals.

Thunder win game 5 to take 3-2 series lead

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 108-103 in game 5 of the Western Conference Finals to take a 3-2 series lead, heading home with a chance to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals with a victory in game 6.  The Thunder were lead by Kevin Durant who, following an unusually quiet first half, scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half.  The Thunder also scored 28 points off of 21 San Antonio turnovers, providing the team with a chance to show off its athleticism in transition.  Despite OKC's youth, the team played with great poise, confidence and intelligence, and appears to be maturing on the big stage in front of a national audience.
The Thunder overcame early adversity when the team was called for three fouls in the first minute of the game, including two on Serge Ibaka the team's starting power forward.  Despite the team's early foul trouble the Thunder weathered the storm and was able to take a 14 point lead in the 2nd quarter.
Manu Ginobili, who Spurs' head coach Gregg Popovich elected to start, played an absolutely breathtaking game, leading all scorers with 34 points, including 5 three pointers, and almost singlehandedly keeping the Spurs in the game.  After multiple big plays down the stretch from Durant, Russell Westbrook who had 23 points and 12 assists, and James Harden who scored 20 points off the bench, the Thunder built a commanding 13 point lead with under 5 minutes remaining in the game.  The Spurs then went on an 11-0 run to cut the Thunder lead down to two, setting up a fantastic finish to the game.
With the Thunder nursing a 2 point lead with under 30 seconds remaining in the game, Harden knocked down a contested step back three pointer to put the Thunder up 5.  Ginobili then missed a three with 4 seconds left that could have tied the game, sealing the Thunder's victory.

Thunder tie series win Spurs behind monster 4th quarter by Durant

The Thunder defeated the Spurs 109-103 Saturday night to tie the Western Conference Finals at 2-2.  Coming off a 20 point demolition of the Spurs on Thursday, the Thunder once again took care of business at home, surprising most pundits who considered the team all but eliminated after the Spurs raced out to a 2-0 series lead.  Kevin Durant continued to establish himself as the greatest closer in the NBA, scoring 18 of his 36 points in the final 7 minutes of the decisive 4th quarter.  Durant scored 16 straight points for the Thunder and showed off his full arsenal of moves, including a floater, 3-pointer, turnaround shot off a post up, a dunk off an alley-oop from James Harden and several midrange jumpers off the dribble on which he demonstrated his beautiful shooting stroke.  Durant played well in all facets of the game, finishing with 8 assists, 6 rebounds and excellent defense with the help of his 7'5" wingspan.  Durant received plenty of help from his front court teammates Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison who finished with a combined 49 points on 22-25 shooting, including 26 for Ibaka on perfect 11-11 shooting from the field.

Thunder crush the Spurs in a must win game 3

The Oklahoma City Thunder demolished the Spurs 102-82 Thursday night in game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, snapping a 20 game win streak by the Spurs and cutting the Spurs' lead in the series to 2-1.  The Thunder played desperately and were energized by their home fans in limiting the Spurs' offensive juggernaut to the fewest points they have scored since January 27th.  The Spurs committed an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers leading to countless dunks and easy fast break points by the young and athletic Thunder.  Thunder head coach Scott Brooks adjusted from OKC's two previous defeats by more often using a smaller lineup, with Kevin Durant at the power forward position, which allowed the Thunder to match up better with San Antonio.  Thabo Sefolosha, a product of Switzerland, coming off a game in which he played for only 15 minutes, was the difference in the game.  Sefolosha finished with 19 points, a franchise record tying 6 steals, spread the floor by making 4 3-pointers, and played relentless defense in preventing Tony Parker from exploding offensively.  Durant led the Thunder with 22 points in a game they had to win in order to have a fighting chance of winning the series.  Tim Duncan's 5 blocks in the game made him the NBA's all time leader in career playoff blocks with 477, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by one blocked shot.

Spurs win 20th straight game to take 2-0 series lead over the Thunder

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-111 Tuesday night to take a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals.  Lead by Tony Parker who scored 34 points on an incredible 76% shooting from the field, the Spurs never trailed the Thunder, and at one point lead OKC by 22. Until 2:30 remained in the 3rd quarter, San Antonio executed brilliantly offensively off of pick and roll penetration by Tony Parker, who seemed to effortlessly weave through the Thunder's defenders creating open shots for both himself and his teammates.  At that point, the Thunder unconventionally employed what became known as the Hack-a-Splitter strategy to disrupt San Antonio's offensive flow.  On five consecutive possessions the Thunder intentionally fouled Thiago Splitter, sending him to the free throw line where he converted on 6 of 12 shots in the game.  In the 4th quarter the Thunder were able to cut the Spurs' lead down to 6 points after head coach Scott Brooks decided to use a smaller lineup by removing starting center Kendrick Perkins, who was ineffective in assisting Russell Westbrook in guarding Parker on the pick and roll.  With a smaller, more athletic lineup on the floor Oklahoma City was able to make the proper defensive rotations to prevent the Spurs from having wide open shots on the perimeter.  Brooks also made an adjustment which proved to be crucial in the final minutes of the game by switching on every Parker pick and roll.  The Thunder was ultimately unable to pull through, despite monster games from its big three of Kevin Durant (31 points), Russell Westbrook (27 points) and James Harden (30 points off the bench.)  In order to win the next game, OKC is going to have to receive better performances from the rest of team, which combined for only 23 points.  The Spurs on the other hand were given a boost by role players like Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard who finished with 10 and 18 points respectively.

Spurs take 1-0 Series lead in impressive win over the Thunder

Despite trailing the Thunder by 9 points at the beginning of the 4th quarter, the San Antonio Spurs used their vast playoff experience to overcome the deficit and take a 1-0 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.  The game was the Spurs' franchise record 19th consecutive victory.  After committing 14 first half turnovers, the Spurs did a tremendous job taking care of the basketball and valuing every possession by limiting the Thunder to only 2 second half takeaways, which prevented the youthful and athletic Thunder from dominating the Spurs on the fast break.  After San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich demanded that his team "play with a dose of nasty," and exclaimed "I want some nasty," the Spurs substantially increased their aggressiveness on both ends of the court.  San Antonio's crisp passing and offensive execution eventually wore down the Thunder, who played effective defense for the first three quarters of the game.  Manu Ginobili had a spectacular game leading the Spurs with 26 points off the bench.  Stephen Jackson played a large role in San Antonio outscoring the Thunder 39-27 in the 4th quarter, by forcing Kevin Durant, the NBA's three time defending scoring champion, to work hard for every point he scored.

First half thoughts from Game 1 of the 2012 Western Conference Finals

1. Battle of the 6th men
The series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder features a battle of the top two 6th men in the NBA.  Manu Ginobili ended the first quarter on an absolute tear, knocking down several difficult shots including a fadeaway three pointer at the buzzer, and finished the half with 10 points off the bench.  Ginobili's production is huge for San Antonio which is desperate for a player who can join Tony Parker in creating easy shots for both himself and his teammates.  James Harden, the 6th man of the year struggled with his shot, converting on only 1 of 9 shots in the half.  Oklahoma City will need him to shoot better in the second half in order to stay in the game when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook rest on the bench.
2.  San Antonio turnovers
In recent years coach Gregg Popovich has transformed San Antonio from a slow paced defense oriented team into one of the highest scoring teams in the NBA.  San Antonio attempted to play the first half at a pace that bordered on out of control.  After committing 14 first half turnovers which lead to countless easy buckets for the Thunder who excel in transition, the Spurs must take care of the ball better in the 2nd half in order to force the Thunder to try to score in the half court, which the Thunder struggle to do when they aren't making their jump shots.  Durant and Thabo Sefolosha used their length and athleticism to disrupt the passing lanes, combining for 6 first half steals.
3.  Kevin Durant, scoring extraordinaire
Durant, a Washington D.C. native, is the NBA's three time defending scoring champion at only 23 years old.  Durant led all scorers with 13 first half points, including several incredibly difficult jumpers over Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs rookie shutdown perimeter defender.  Although scoring 13 first half points is nothing special for Durant, his performance this deep in the postseason at such a young age is nothing short of spectacular.  This season Durant has continued to develop his overall game and has expanded his effect on the game beyond merely scoring by substantially improving both his passing and defense.  Durant has already matured into arguably the greatest clutch player in the NBA, and as the game progresses his play will only continue to improve.