After the San Antonio Spurs went up 2-0 on the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Spurs looked like they would be making an early trip to the NBA Finals and a shot at title number five.
However, once the Western Conference Finals series shifted to OKC, it became a whole new series. OKC took care of their home court and won both games at home and the series is now tied at 2-2. In Game 3, the Spurs were walloped and in Game 4, poor execution down the stretch doomed the team and not to mention incredible play by Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins.
The Spurs just haven’t looked like the team that rattled off 20-wins in a row and Stephen Jackson summed it up quite succinctly in his postgame comments after Game 4.
Check out what Jackson had to say about the Spurs’ performance in their Game 4 loss.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhyYfU4LLwY&w=560&h=315]
The Spurs are not matching the Thunder’s intensity on the court since the series shifted to OKC and cannot take the Thunder lightly. Now it’s a best of three series and momentum is in OKC’s favor heading into Game 5 in San Antonio.
Granted, many predicted San Antonio would dispatch OKC in six games so it shouldn’t come to a big surprise the series is tied, however, it is how the Spurs are not competing in games 3 and 4 that have Spurs fans worried.
Clearly, Scott Brooks made the right adjustments to disrupt the Spurs and Popovich hasn’t. San Antonio’s role players, such as Danny Green and Matt Bonner, have not stepped up nor has Tim Duncan as he has been shooting poorly versus the Thunder. Furthermore, mostly all the players are not looking the same aside from Jackson. And he is right, the Spurs shouldn’t be scared.
They have the better players, better system, better coach, an abundance of championship experience, and the deeper bench.
Game 5 will be critical tomorrow in determining the winner of the series. Thank goodness the Spurs have the home court advantage.
What do you think Spurs fans? DeJuan Blair looks like he can be a difference maker, should he get more minutes? What do you think about Jackson’s comments and what should the team do to secure a win tomorrow night?
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