OKC Thunder: 5 Keys To Beating The Spurs

1. Late-Game Execution

Were you expecting anything different? The Thunder need their two superstars to play well (yes Mark Cuban, TWO superstars), they need Ibaka to neutralize Aldridge to the best of his abilities, and they need their bench to avoid bleeding points when they take the floor.

But at the end of the day, the Thunder won’t have the luxury of blowing out the Spurs by an average margin of 18.2 points per game like they did against Dallas. If OKC is going to beat this team, they’re going to have to win a few close contests, which has easily been this team’s kryptonite all season long.

Most people know the Thunder suffered a league-worst 14 losses in games where they led heading into the fourth quarter, but not many people know the stark contrast between their total point differential through three quarters (+588) and the fourth quarter (+1).

In what NBA.com refers to as “clutch situations” (last five minutes, five-point differential or less), the Thunder posted a net rating of -8.3, ranking them 24th in the league. We already saw it in Game 2 against a vastly undermanned Mavs team, when the Thunder were outscored 16-8 over the game’s final 6:47, shooting 3-for-16 from the field over that pivotal stretch.

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Against a team known for its experience, poise and late-game execution, the Thunder can’t afford this Achilles heel to expose itself. The Thunder have the talent and athleticism to make life difficult on an older Spurs team, and they might even have the superior starting five. But if they can’t execute down the stretch with the game on the line, this series won’t live up to the hype.