2014 Playoffs: (1) San Antonio vs. (2) Oklahoma City

[shadowgrin]

Yeah like Pop easily falls for mind games...

[Andrew]

[Andrew]

Wild ending to the first half with those threes by Ginobili and Westbrook. Fun stuff. Ibaka's looking pretty healthy so far, too.

[bowdown]

Ibaka had a pretty good impact this game. They needed him badly.

[shadowgrin]

In the fading minutes of the fourth quarter, with the game as out of reach as the moon, there was Manu Ginobili making his way gingerly toward the locker room while carrying a shoe in one hand.

Anything to be worried about there?

“He’ll be fine or he’s out for the playoffs,” cracked Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “You’ve still got to have some fun even if you lose. Come on, it’s basketball. Yeah, we wanted to win, but I want to laugh too.”

phpBB [video]

A listener outside the locker room door — could easily hear Popovich on a paint-peeling, ceiling-rattling six-to-eight minute postgame tirade.

“No different,” Parker said. “He usually tells us what he thinks.”

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2014/05/2 ... ng-matter/

[Kevin]

Pop being Pop, I guess

[_Steve_]

Pop at his best.

[NovU]

Ibaka had a pretty good impact this game. They needed him badly.

Yup. He's quite the efficient big man with mid range game and a defensive force with mobility. He was my first round pick for 2 seasons in NLSC fantasy league and guess what the result was.

It sucked to see such a durable player getting injured (especially right before the WCF? CMON). Great to see him back and having a great impact right away in the series. Mr. Reliable.

[Kevin]

Wow, Thunder just destroying the Spurs tonight. Pop isn't very happy about it either..

[Lamrock]

Original OKC in 6 prediction looking good with Power Serge back. If that's the case, go Heat. #notweetinandthreepeatin #StriveForGreatness

[YaoKnowWhat_I_Ming]

SMH. https://twitter.com/RealSkipBayless/status/471495292265967616

[Andrew]

Well, if we're talking for one game, sure. Still, I call trolling.

Meanwhile, so far it's looking like the first round was the best round of this year's Playoffs. Here's hoping the NBA Finals offer a worthy conclusion to the season.

[Kevin]

Everybody is now hating on Skip.... including me....

[YaoKnowWhat_I_Ming]

When did people not hate Skip? O:

[Andrew]

Apparently not everyone. A few people who replied to that Tweet seem to be agreeing with him.

[bowdown]

Spurs gonna be scared now. They've been here before with OKC and didn't turn out well for them.

[NovU]

Shyt man. I couldn't watch the game but I was surprised of the result. I'd have chosen OKC to win the series if Serge was healthy and it seems they could do so even though he's not 100% and only came back at game 3.

Fire Vogel? StfU noobs! You should be saing Fire OKC's medical staff first. OUT FOR SEASON diagnose but comes back after missing 2 games. The worst medical staff ever in history of NBA, period. Or did the Thunder just pull Paul Piercing on us?

[shadowgrin]

With that heated exchange between Duncan and Pop during a timeout at least Timmy is now lively and in a fighting mood when the Spurs are in trouble instead of having a long blank stare looking clueless on what to do next like he had in 2012 against OKC.

[Andrew]

You should be saing Fire OKC's medical staff first. OUT FOR SEASON diagnose but comes back after missing 2 games. The worst medical staff ever in history of NBA, period.

Well no, obviously they're the best in the league as they got him back onto the court after missing only two games. The Suns' staff may have revitalised careers, but even they haven't pulled that one off.

[Mandich]

God I hope the Spurs get their shit together and win this series.

I think Ibaka was more of a mental push than anything. Nevertheless, props to OKC for getting back.

[NovU]

Well no, obviously they're the best in the league as they got him back onto the court after missing only two games. The Suns' staff may have revitalised careers, but even they haven't pulled that one off.

You got me there, my friend.


On more serious note, I think it's safe to say that Ibaka's impact indeed brought the changes to the series. Defensively, the Spurs shot about the same in the paint but took less shots with Ibaka defending the paint. His pick and roll D is great as well, better at containing Parker than Perkins/Adams/Collison. Offensively, pick n roll with Westbrook has been the money. He may not be the biggest winning factor but your team is getting a more than solid contribution from your big when the guy can provide near 15ppg on 60% shooting, 7-8reb, 3blks (especially in the playoffs, it's tougher to keep up your regular season production level). That's solid efficient/productive numbers all across which is essential when your other players are volume shooters.

[shadowgrin]

Silly Manu Ginobili thinking he's not old.

Tim Duncan is pissed, pwning OKC up front.

[Andrew]

Another game in this series, another blowout victory for the home team (barring something truly incredible). Not that I'm sorry to see the Spurs win - I think that'll make for a more competitive Finals series against the Heat, and I'd say they have a decent chance of getting payback for last year - but it'd be nice to see a game go down to the wire. So far, we've only had one such game between the two Conference Finals series.

[NovU]

Whether the Thunder can turn this series around or not, I am deeply disappointed with Durant. I thought this was the season where he took that leap and overtake LBJ's place as a league's best player. But his diminishing performance in playoffs carried over to this season and his performance took a huge dip once again. LBJ consistently had great games/series even though there were times he struggled badly in the playoffs. But Durant in his career, always has underperformed in the playoffs.

I can't remember the time where you can say KD entirely won the game/series for you. Even Chris Paul(though eliminated) had at least couple games like that this post season. You see, KD's PER during regular season was 30, but is 23 in the playoffs. Compare that to LBJ's 29 to 30. One's keeping it up while the other one's falling short on expectations.

[shadowgrin]

I am deeply disappointed with Durant...his diminishing performance in playoffs carried over to this season and his performance took a huge dip once again...But Durant in his career, always has underperformed in the playoffs.

It's called having a Russell Westbrook.

LBJ consistently had great games/series even though there were times he struggled badly in the playoffs.

Because he's a stat whore.