Posted on 05/30/2014 7:55:10 AM PDT by laotzu
The last time the Thunder walked out of San Antonio the team left with a series deficit that at the time seemed insurmountable.
But in the back of everyone’s mind was history. It was the one thing the Thunder and its fans had to cling to when searching for a reason to believe this team could march back to the NBA Finals.
Then Serge Ibaka came back. And then the Thunder won twice in Oklahoma City to tie the Western Conference Finals at two games apiece.
Before we knew it, a repeat of 2012 looked not just possible but likely.
But when the Thunder walked out of AT&T Center on Thursday night, history was no longer on its side.
The Spurs sent the Thunder to the brink of elimination with a thorough 117-89 thumping in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead and end the possibility of losing four straight to the Thunder as they did in the 2012 Western Conference Finals after taking the first two games.
San Antonio led by as many as 33 points and cruised after halftime to put all the pressure on the Thunder, which is now staring at a must-win situation Saturday night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The San Antonio Spurs have an astonishing 62 wins this year to lead the Western Conference, followed closely by the Thunderous 59 wins of Oklahoma. The Phoenix Suns, long ago finished for the year, had a dismal 48 wins, placing them 9th out of 15 in the West.
I disrespected the Thunder, and they scared the pelosi out of me in games 2 & 3. Go Spurs!
I just want the team to win that has the best chance of beating the Miami Trayvons.
Thunder lost their shot blocking Center prior to this series and that put them at a big disadvantage of an already difficult task.
I read last year The Thunder are “the most republican team” in the NBA. Last night was a huge blow to my Thunder. If we don’t win it this year, I don’t think we can keep all the pieces in place. Westbrook, Ibaka, and Durant are locked up for a while, but I think time is running out. We can still do it, and we should, because we’re better in every way than the Spurs. Thunder Up!
I am not a fan of professional sports. I think the athletes are overpaid, pampered and spoiled.
That being said the Spurs do it right. A small $ market team that has loyal players who generally stay out of trouble, a coach with a great system and they win.
If there were more teams like this in professional sports I might pay more attention.
In conclusion I have to say GO SPURS GO!
You could take all your points and they would be much more applicable to the Thunder.
Agreed. Both of these teams seem to do it right and largely have good guys on the team. I root for the Thunder, unless they play the Spurs. I’d love to see Duncan get another ring to ensure his place in NBA history. Won’t lose any sleep if Durant has a chance to get his first!
Their series two years ago was the most enjoyable NBA basketball I’ve seen. This series is wild with the home court blowouts in all five games.
Sounds like you’ve had doubts.
This is SERIES!!!!
FMCDH(BITS)
Har!! I love it!
From Wiki:
In their 38 NBA seasons since 1976–1977, the Spurs have captured 20 division titles. They have made the playoffs in 24 of the last 25 seasons (since 1989–1990) and have not missed the playoffs in the 17 seasons since Tim Duncan was drafted by the Spurs in 1997. With their 50th win in the 2013–2014 season, the Spurs extended their record for most consecutive 50+ win seasons to 15 (the 1998/1999 season was shortened to 50 games because of a lockout and based on their win percentage of .740, would have easily surpassed 50 wins in an 82-game season, and thus extend the record by 2 more seasons).They are the only team in the NBA with a tied or better head-to-head regular season record against every active team.
That is an amazing stat. And they’ve done it without buying players.
And why not? I have watched the Spurs lose to the Thunder this very week. It's not like were talking about the Pelicans, Smithville Jr High, or the Suns here. Oklahoma has a damn fine ball club.
Exactly.
It’s all in the system.
I listened to a national sports program this week in which they said a lot of teams draft athletes. The Spurs draft basketball players.
Now like I said upstream I really don’t follow pro sports, but makes perfect sense. If it’s true or not I don’t know...
That’s very impressive. Fitting that the Thunder will dethrone them in dramatic fashion on their home court.
It will take a great deal more than eliminating the Spurs this year to "dethrone" them from the accomplishments detailed in post #12.
Not really. You dethrone a king, then you rule their kingdom. That’s what the Thunder will do. They have to take the throne first.
But the future does belong to OKC. The Spurs are getting old, and OKC's best players are very young. And Adams will be one the league's best centers. So just hang on for a few years.
You really think Adams will be that good? That’s hopeful.
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