OKC Thunder Must Make Their Trip To San Antonio Their Last
The OKC Thunder must make Game 5 their final trip to San Antonio this postseason.
The Oklahoma City Thunder evened things up with the San Antonio Spurs Sunday night securing a 111-97 win. Each team has been able to win on each other’s floor and have shown a capability to do it again. However, if the Thunder want to win the series they must make Game 5 their last trip to San Antonio.
The Thunder must continue to get Russell Westbrook to be his aggressive self, but facilitate his teammates to victory. Sunday night, Westbrook was off in terms of racking up points. He did, however, have an impressive 12 assists by the third quarter of the game. It shows that if he can be a dual threat for his team, they will succeed, as he finished with 15 assists for the game.
Kevin Durant‘s impact on the floor spoke volumes as he tied his postseason career high with 41 points on 14-for-25 shooting. He seemingly got any shot he wanted, flowing effortlessly like water. As long as he scores the team has a chance to succeed.
The Thunder are at their best we they are on the fast break. Their half-court game still needs fine tuning, but when they are running they seem so much more fluid. They only had 15 fast-break points and need more transition buckets to feel great in the series.
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The Thunder big men must continue to control the paint as well. Steven Adams has been a key cog for the Thunder engine. Sunday night was one of his more brilliant games as he contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds. He and Serge Ibaka must continue to crash the boards against LaMarcus Aldridge and Tim Duncan. The team secured 40 rebounds in its victory.
Another key to containing a Spurs win is stopping Boris Diaw. He is most known for his ability to pass the ball and spread the floor for his shooters. His 11 points in 21 minutes were crucial for his team in Game 4, but weren’t enough. He is capable of having bigger games such as Sunday night going forward. Defensive stoppers such as Andre Roberson must do what they can to contain the spark he gives his team on the floor.
They also can’t have Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard and Aldridge score 20-plus points in the same game either. Having those numbers from players like that usually is a recipe for success.
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If the Thunder execute these keys to their game plan, winning Game 5 will be a well-fought victory.