The Spurs did their job in games one and two. They executed on both ends of the floor and defended home court with two wins. What we took away from games one and two served as the pre-cursor for shock after last nights outcome. San Antonio played so well, especially in game two, and made it seem as if they were un-beatable. They were so good in fact, everyone forgot just how good the OKC Thunder really are.
OKC's loses in this series have not been due to lack of performance from their stars. Kevin Durant put up 27 points in game one and 31 in game two. Russell Westbrook and James Harden also chipped in the two opening games combining for 93 points respectably. Last night in game three the Thunder brought with them a much more balanced attack. Durant scored 22 points and was complimented by OKC's role players who came up big in the scoring column and even bigger in the steals column with 14. The Thunder forced 21 turnovers and crushed the Spurs in the paint, scoring 44 points inside compared to 24 points dropped in by San Antonio.
The Thunder played great basketball in game three. They were well prepared and went after the Spurs as soon as the ball was tipped. San Antonio played poorly. They gave up way too many possessions off turnovers and lost control of the interior.
Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks apparently saw a weakness down low and exploited it last night. OKC also shifted some match-ups defensively. They put their 6'7 Shooting Guard, Thabo Sefolosha on Spurs Point Guard Tony Parker and it proved effective. Parker was held to 16 points (not bad) and turned the ball over 5 times. Sefolosha clearly disrupted Parker's game. He made it difficult for him to find open guys all night, holding Parker to 4 assist. Clearly a smart adjustment by Coach Brooks, one that they will surely stick with going forward.
The Spurs had won 20 straight games coming into game three (10 regular season/10 post season), so they get a pass for their horrible performance last night. Stephen Jackson lead the team in scoring with 16 points, which tells a lot. Tim Duncan set the playoff record for most blocked shots in the playoffs passing Kareem Abdul Jabbar with 477 total post season blocks. That's about all San Antonio can take away from game three.
The Thunder have now made this a series. They still can't afford to go down 3-1 after game four on Saturday night. The Spurs will re-group by making key adjustments on their end as well and will look to bury any kind of hope that OKC obtained in the win last night.
Video from YouTube of Kevin Durant dunking on Tim Duncan early in game three of the WCF. This set the tone for OKC going forward.
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