Jason Black
OKLAHOMA CITY, May 25, 2012â€"The two teams that have dominated the playoffs so far and most had predicted would meet will face off the in the Western Conference Finals. The San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder will begin their series on Sunday, May 27th.
It is appropriate that these two teams would meet since the Spurs have been a model franchise for over a decade, and the Thunder have modeled their franchise after the Spurs.
Each have their own big three in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili for San Antonio, and Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden for Oklahoma City.
The Spurs haven’t lost a game, regular season or playoff, since April 11. They have swept each of their post-season opponents, the Jazz and Clippers, four games to zero.
The Thunder have not had quite a streak, but have still been impressive in the post-season, sweeping the defending champion Mavericks and beating the Lakers four to one.
While the Spurs have been more impressive in their victories, the Thunder have had a tougher road to get here. If the Thunder were to defeat the Spurs, then they would have beaten every team that has represented the Western Conference in the Finals since 1999.
Duncan is playing out of his mind right now, and the Spurs look better than they ever did in their previous four championship runs. If the Thunder have a chance against them they will have to be consistent in their outside shooting and minimize turnovers. Harden will have to outplay his counterpart of Ginobili and Westbrook will have to try and contain Parker.
In the regular season the Spurs were 2-1 against Oklahoma City, but Ginobili didn’t play in any of the contests.
The Spurs look unstoppable, but the young Thunder have the ability to beat anybody. Can they beat the Spurs four times? Spurs in six.
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