The San Antonio Spurs were the second-best team in the NBA this year, calmly going about their business while racking up an amazing 67 wins.
In any other year, they would have been the focus of our attention. So their capitulation on Thursday night made for perplexing and incredible viewing. How could it have all gone so wrong for the franchise that is the benchmark for all franchises in US sports?
The NBA Playoffs and Finals series are traditionally characterised by slower play. Teams are far more calculating and deliberate, and thus the games become defensive. Pundits would have taken this into account when predicting the Western Conference semi finals.
There was no way the brash upstarts in Oklahoma would beat this institution of the game. Gregg Popovich and his team would sweep the Thunder, or at the most it would be in five games. The Spurs, with the best lockdown player in the game in Kawhi Leonard, would emerge for the most anticipated Western Conference Final with the Warriors in recent memory.
So what went wrong for the Spurs, and right for the Thunder?
Manu Ginobili, and to some extent Tony Parker also, struggled mightily in the final two games of the series. In Game 6 Ginobili was nothing short of appalling, a shadow of his former self. While age is catching up, some of his possessions were cringe worthy last night. He appeared behind the play often and a liability on defence.
The writing was on the wall in the first quarter when his poor pass led to a Thunder fast break and dunk. One couldn’t help but feel after that play that Ginobili would be the fall guy.
But obviously the capitulation is not solely Ginobili’s fault. Peculiarly only at the start of the third quarter did Popovich finally decide to go with a smaller line up. The Thunder had just had a dominant second quarter and looked like an out of control freight train. This adjustment was far too late though and ultimately proved futile.
The Spurs had just come off their lowest-scoring quarter all season and needed that tactical shift much earlier. What made this decision more perplexing by Popovich was when you consider how quickly he acted in the first quarter with something he didn’t like, calling a timeout at the 2:30 mark when the score was 2-2!
While there were many outstanding moments for the Thunder, it appeared that the oft-used cliché of the crowd being the extra man was true! The collegiate like atmosphere at the Chesapeake Energy Arena was pulsating and must have felt suffocating for the Spurs, and motivating for the hometown Thunder.
While a loud playoff crowd is normal, this felt that little bit more, reaching that eleven out of ten echelon.
The Thunder showed how much better they are playing as a team on offense, rather than it being funneled for either Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. They played fast, ruthless and eye-popping basketball. The Spurs, oddly, looked defeated, uninspired and just plain slow.
There will be many questions as to how this could happen with the great San Antonio. But we probably won’t get any answers from Coach Pop anytime soon on it.
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