And by get nasty . . . I mean win. Tuesday night’s Game 2 between Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs was not what I expected. It was probably not what the Thunder expected either. The Thunder trailed for entire game. The closest the Thunder came was within 6 points. It was like after Game 1 the Spurs really looked at their plays and reworked them to match the Thunder. And the Thunder well they just seemed utterly lost at how to beat the Spurs.
The Spurs won their 20th straight game beating the Thunder, 120-111. I should note that the Thunder are the first team to make it to a 100 points against the Spurs. Kevin Durant put up 31 points for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook had 27 points and James Harden had 30 points. And despite all of that scoring the Thunder still lost. Whatever was working for the Thunder before certainly isn’t working now.
Tony Parker (who shockingly gets very little attention in the NBA) scored 34 points. Manu Ginobili kept up his break out Game 1 appearance and scored 20 points. The biggest thing you notice while watching the Spurs is there ability to share the ball. When you look at the scoring stats it’s not just a few key people making points.
If we have learned anything from the Lakers recently it’s that one man is not a whole team . . . cough cough . .. Kobe Bryant. It is the amount of depth as a team that is going to lead the Spurs right past the Thunder.
The ironic part of all of this is how under the radar the Spurs fly. You forget they exist until it comes to the playoffs. But watching the Spurs is like watching basketball in it’s purest form. It takes you away from the egos that dominate most teams. They play as a team and win as a team.
-M
PS
In case you missed it during Game 1. Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich said that he wanted to his team to “get some nasty.” This apparently sparked a catch phrase trend. It is kind of disturbing to see an old woman wearing a “get some nasty” shirt.
Tags: basketball, championship, coach, depth, dominate, fan, field goal, foul, game 1, game 2, game 3, get nasty, gregg popovich, I want some nasty, james harden, Kawhi Leonard, kevin durant, manu ginobili, NBA, nba playoffs, not popular, oklahoma city thunder, old woman nasty shirt, passing, russell westbrook, san antiono spurs, scoring, series, splitter, sweep, team, tim duncan, tony parker, under the radar
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