But this doesn’t bode well for OKC considering the Thunder can’t win this series without at least doubling the Spurs’ total home losses on the season, considering the Thunder were supposed to have an advantage with their starters and couldn’t even stay within 20 in the first quarter.
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It’s hard to imagine how things could have gone any worse for the Thunder during their embarrassing 124-92 Game 1 loss to the Spurs.
The San Antonio Spurs are looking to continue a demolition job tonight at the AT&T Center when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder again, for Game 2 of their second round series. As unusual as it may sound after a decade plus of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili more or less controlling the fate of the Spurs, Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge are now officially the focal points of the Spurs’ on-court operations. San Antonio put Adams in pick-and-pop all night.
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A team does not go 18-of-22 from the field without a bit of luck, and it’s fair to say that the Spurs may not be able shoot that well on the same shots if they tried 100 times.
We know OKC has the talent to hang with the Spurs.
The first is the matchup between LaMarcus Aldridge and Serge Ibaka. But Aldridge dominated him in Game 1 for a game-high 38 points on 18-of-23 shooting.
Draymond Green had his second career postseason triple-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for the defending champions.
But once they got a chance to see the video, it became clear a lot went wrong.
I asked a question before the series began, everyone focused on how Leonard would check Durant but the question is how is Durant going to check Leonard? Danny forces a tough look for Durant and Duncan cleans it up while Russell Westbrook tests his vertical instead of getting back on D. Easy points. Hopefully the Thunder can bring more effort and perhaps a better game plan (word to Billy Donovan) to Game 2 to make the series much more competitive.
The Thunder really struggled with the pick-and-roll for the whole game and Parker/Duncan PnR #6783 was a success. Parker racked up eight assists in the first 24 minutes of play.
At some points the offense looked like a team of intimidated middle-schoolers, playing hot-potato with the ball until the shot-clock ran out and someone had to shoot.
Everyone is talking about the highly anticipated faceoff between the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, but it’s not as sure as the sun rising though.
NOTES: San Antonio’s first-round series victory against Memphis marked the 19th for the Spurs since 1984, which ranks second in National Basketball Association history behind the Los Angeles Lakers (22). But this was the dazzle of what can come down the line as Leonard and Aldridge move toward full bloom.
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There were still moments of offensive brilliance during the Spurs’ 67-win campaign. The most recent was the Lakers against the Celtics in the 1985 Finals.
