San Antonio Spurs: Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge ‘Out-Thundering’ Thunder

In a somewhat ironic turn of events, Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge are outdueling the league’s most devastating 1-2 punch as they take a stranglehold on the Western Conference semifinals.

Coming into the Western Conference semifinals, the marquee matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder was billed as the ultimate team going up against the premier dynamic duo of the NBA.

The Spurs, who have won five championships in the Tim Duncan-Gregg Popovich era, are perceived by many as the epitome of empowerment — playing the beautiful game the way it is supposed to be played.  By contrast, the Thunder have long been hailed as the team of destiny; a two-man powered nuclear bomb, housing two of the league’s top-five superstars.

As much as the Spurs are endearing, the Thunder are polarizing. On paper, their fundamental differences are what make sports so captivating.

But basketball doesn’t always play out the way it appears it should on paper.

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The most recent evolution of the San Antonio Spurs is now complete.  We’ve seen this franchise go from a defensive juggernaut backed by their Hall of Fame twin towers comprised of Duncan and David Robinson to a modern “four-out one-in” team, with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili serving as the ballhandling snakes of the high pick-and-roll attack.

Now, with the much ballyhooed offseason addition of LaMarcus Aldridge and the never-ending rise of Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs have reverted back to their jumbo-sized, defensive-minded ways.  Not only did San Antonio enjoy their most fruitful regular season in franchise history, winning 67 games, they also possessed the league’s stingiest D, allowing just 99.0 points per 100 possessions, per Basketball-Reference.

Offensively speaking, the team has also shifted away from their famed “beautiful game” philosophy.

While the second unit will still go on spurts of rotation-bending ball movement, the starters have quietly become awfully iso-dependent.

But, when you have the services of Aldridge — who, perhaps, is the most skilled and physically imposing back-to-the-basket operator in the association today — and Leonard — who continues the build on his repertoire of offensive moves; from his footwork in the pinch post, to his change of pace dribbles out on the perimeter — the Spurs still manage to muster up a top-five offense.

More impressively, however, the Spurs’ dynamic duo is outdueling the Thunder’s premier duet of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.  In an ironic turn of events, San Antonio is beating OKC at its own game.

As Westbrook continues to go through mental lapses and periods of lackadaisical effort on the defensive end while Durant’s internal frustration reaches a fever pitch, Kawhi and LMA are as calm as ever — dissecting the Thunder’s designated defensive specialists with a rare concoction of skill, athleticism and controlled aggression.

For every blown Russ layup, Kawhi is following his own miss strong for an and-1. For every contested jumper KD misses, Aldridge is draining his patented turnaround over the outstretched and hopeless arms of one Steven Adams.

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In a league of stars and star duos, Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge have overtaken Durant’s and Westbrook’s stranglehold on “the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant award” as the league’s most dominant 1-2 punch.

With San Antonio leading the series 2-1 and having already taken the Thunder’s proverbial best punch, the Spurs look as poised as ever to advance to the conference finals, where they’ll likely meet yet another devastating duo known as the Splash Brothers.