Tuesday Bolts – 6.5.12

Jan Hubbard for SI.com: “When historians document the eureka moment in the ascension of the Oklahoma City Thunder, they will not focus on the good fortune that turned out to be Kevin Durant. Nor will they cite the brilliant drafting of James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka, or even the shrewd trades that brought in Kendrick Perkins and Thabo Sefolosha. Personnel will obviously be important. But there is a moment when a team with tantalizing potential figures out what it takes to win at the highest level. There is a moment when a team with championship aspirations becomes a team that demonstrates it can win a title. For the Thunder, that moment was Monday night.”

J.A. Adande of ESPN.com: “These are the NBA playoffs, an event as star-oriented as Oscar night in Hollywood. Effusive praise (ask Kevin Durant) or excessive blame (ask LeBron James) comes with the season, like rising temperatures. For the past five days, Parker has been saying he needs to be more aggressive. He hasn’t done anything more than say it. He has one last shot to come through, one opportunity to deliver basketball’s ultimate test: a breakout performance in a road playoff game. If he does, the Spurs get an opportunity to continue their season with a Game 7 at home. And if they instead become the 15th team to lose a series after leading 2-0, chances are we’ll know whom to blame.”

My column at CBSSports.com.

Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com: “Which means the Thunder were on the precipice of one of the biggest collapses. And seeing how Harden was hitting big shots, and Durant couldn’t get his hands on the ball, the blame would have rested primarily with one guy: Bad Russell Westbrook. Bad Russell was here Monday night, following three quarters of Good Russell like a hangover follows a fabulous night. Bad Russell didn’t lose this game, but he came close — and there are more games waiting. Bigger games.”

Why we love Russell.

ESPN Stats and Info: “Kevin Durant shot 9-13 and scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half of Game 5. Durant was 8-10 from 10+ feet in the second half, including 2-3 from the 3-point line. It was his most makes and attempts from that distance in any half this postseason. Durant is shooting 68.4 percent from 10+ feet in the second half of his last two games. For the postseason, he is shooting 46.3 percent from this range, fourth best among the 64 players with at least 40 attempts.”

Video from the airport via Nazr Mohammed.

Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: “Funny thing, however, is how quickly perceptions can change which, as we’ve said, is a great thing about sports playoffs. It was about week ago we were lauding the Spurs for being so efficient and effective, Tony Parker was phenomenal, Tim Duncan had been reborn and Manu was, well, Manu. Today? Parker can’t handle long defenders, Duncan’s aging before our very eyes and Manu is, well, Manu. Anyway, I don’t think the series is over, that’s for sure. But having just been in OKC I will tell you this: That will the loudest arena ever. Like jet engine loud. Don Cherry suit loud.”

Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “Amazingly they survived it all. Fortune obviously plays a part after that many gaffes, but it’s also clear that the Thunder have learned how to rebound and cope and grow on the fly — after coming home with a 2-0 deficit — as well as any on-the-rise crew has ever done it. Adversity, to use Collison’s word, no longer leads to automatic panic like it once did. So hungry and emboldened by all they’ve achieved in this playoff run, having lost only one game in eliminating the Mavericks and Lakers, Durant’s Thunder hang in now when things go wrong. Even against the very best.”

Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com: “The cycle of maturation hasn’t stopped for the Thunder, and they needed timely, contested, not-exactly-high-percentage shots in the closing minutes to fight off the Spurs. They may not win a trophy this season, or at the end of the next one. But when a team seizes an opponent’s core strengths — poise, timing, judgment — and claim them as their own, it can be profound, especially this late into spring and especially against a team as masterful as San Antonio.”

 Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports: “More than health, more than the advancing age of their stars, the biggest challenge facing the Spurs in the years ahead is the same one they face now: The Thunder aren’t going anywhere. Their top four players are all younger than 24. Salary-cap constraints could eventually break them up, but those tough decisions won’t have to be made until after next season, if then.”

Berry Tramel: “Which is why with the clock still ticking, 32, 31, 30, Harden took his time. With demonic defender Kawhi Leonard on his case, Harden dribbled inside the 3-point arc, then back out and launched a shot that could live long in Oklahoma City history. Swish. A 3-pointer that drained the Riverwalk dry. The Thunder had a five-point lead with 28.8 seconds left and soon enough had a 108-103 victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. And now the West is there for the Thunder’s taking. Beat the Spurs on Wednesday night back home in Oklahoma City, and the Thunder is headed for the NBA Finals.”

Harvey Araton of the New York Times: “The Spurs would rally in the third quarter. Ginobili was hot. But Durant — furthering Popovich’s argument — once again started looking like the best player on the planet and the younger, swifter Thunder followed him to within one home victory of this rising team’s first league finals.”