San Antonio Spurs: 5 Keys To Beating The Thunder

5. Duncan Keeping Up

I know, I know. For years the popular trend has been wondering if this was the year Tim Duncan and company fall off, and every year, they give Father Time the politest middle finger possible. But with Tim Duncan’s minutes and production lower than ever, we are finally seeing some tangible signs of his age (which is only to be expected since he’s 40 freaking years old).

In Duncan’s 19th season, Gregg Popovich is managing his minutes now more than ever. Timmy averaged 8.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game in 25.2 minutes per game this season — all career lows. Though he was an interior anchor for a historically stingy Spurs defense, there are legitimate questions about his ability to keep up with a spry, young frontcourt of Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams in a seven-game series.

Against the injury-depleted Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio hardly needed Duncan to advance in a four-game sweep, which accounts for his meager 20.3 minutes per game. From the Spurs’ perspective, all that rest in garbage time could pay off in a big way if Duncan comes out with an extra burst of energy against a far more challenging opponent.

In three regular season meetings with the Thunder, Duncan averaged 10.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, but he was also visibly frustrated by Adams, a 22-year-old developing talent who already has a reputation for getting under his opponent’s skin with constant physicality.

Duncan has never been one to lose his cool, but he’ll have to keep up with a physical, agile frontcourt duo over the course of a seven-game series. Here’s hoping that extra rest he got in the first round pays off in this matchup.

Next: No. 4