OKC Thunder: 5 Keys To Beating The Spurs
4. Battle Of The Benches
During the regular season, this wasn’t even a conversation. Though Golden State’s second unit was probably best prepared for a playoff run, the Spurs’ bench was, statistically, the best in the NBA. They outscored opponents by 9.8 points per 100 possessions — the best mark in the league — and averaged the third-most points per game (39.2) among all bench units.
Luckily for the Thunder, the recent play of Enes Kanter and Dion Waiters might just be enough to even the score — provided it can carry over to the second round.
Five games is a small sample size and playing against a shorthanded Mavs team probably inflated the numbers a bit, but Oklahoma City’s bench has the second-best point differential in the playoffs so far at +4.1. That pales in comparison to San Antonio’s +12.3, but facing an injury-depleted Grizzlies team in a lot of garbage time padded their numbers as well.
The thunder are the clearly better team. Getting the bench "on track" is an interesting concept but is it a thing vs David Lee, Tex?
— Kirk Henderson (@KirkSeriousFace) April 24, 2016
Specifically, the Thunder need a big series from their two most frequently criticized reserves. Kanter was a top Sixth Man of the Year candidate this season despite his notoriously poor defense, but in OKC’s first round series, that flaw didn’t prevent him from averaging a gargantuan 15.2 points and 7.0 rebounds in only 20.4 minutes per game.
As for Waiters, OKC was more than happy with his 11.0 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from three-point range in the opening round. The Thunder will need that hot shooting to carry over against the NBA’s best defense, which is slightly worrisome considering Waiters’ .399/.358/.710 shooting splits during the regular season.
Oklahoma City is nowhere near as deep as San Antonio, nor are they as well coached. Randy Foye can’t be a disaster, while Anthony Morrow has to actually play to knock down shots. But if Kanter can be a double-double wrecking ball off the bench and Waiters continues to have the postseason of his life, the Thunder’s second unit might do enough to keep things interesting.
Next: No. 3