Wednesday Bolts – 5.11.16
Tim Bontemps of the WaPo: “All season long, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been
known for collapsing late in games. On 14 different occasions during the regular season and once more during the playoffs, the Thunder went into the fourth quarter with a lead, only to let it slip away. That was a deficiency that was expected to cost the Thunder dearly in this Western Conference semifinal with the San Antonio Spurs, a team that for two decades has trademarked its ability to stay calm, cool and collected in the biggest of moments and with the lights shining brightest.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “In less than two months, Durant will get to decide how much he thinks Westbrook helps make him great, and how much having a player like that at his side on the nights where Durant struggles (8-of-21) means to him. In the balance will be his future, Westbrook’s future, and the future of this team that rose from young pups to wild stallions on the verge of their fourth conference finals appearance. It’s telling though that when asked about Westbrook –after fawning over his point guard’s performance — Durant credited the rest of their teammates for a win that seemed impossible two months ago. And he said something that seems 100 percent in the moment, and could be very prophetic.”
Patrick Redford of Deadspin: “The Spurs now have to trek north to Oklahoma City on Thursday and win one on the road in front of what will definitely be a fervent crowd. This feels like a seven-game series, but if Westbrook gets to slicing open the Spurs again, OKC will make it to a somehow unlikely-feeling Western Conference Finals. This was a team that had some severe late-game problems during the regular season. They have a flawed bench, two superstars with overlapping skill sets, and a pass-averse offensive system, but none of that is quite as important when you are as utterly talented as the Thunder are.”
Rob Mahoney of SI.com: “The Thunder don’t have to play perfect defense in this series to win. They simply have to do enough to knock the Spurs off balance and then commit to keeping them there. Every possession they’re able to confine to an isolation on one side of the court works in their favor. Create a pattern of those plays, and the occasional bits of imprecision fall away in a winning margin.”
Love this: Every case for Kevin Durant to go to their team.
Michael Erler of Pounding the Rock: “Give the Thunder credit. No, seriously, I’m pretty much demanding you give them credit, right now, before you read the next sentence. Don’t mumble it either, make it sincere. Those dudes are playing hard, man. They could’ve easily cashed it in down 13 midway through the third quarter, resigned themselves to a loss and thought about regrouping for Game 6. Instead, they fought back to cut it to three by the end of the quarter and then for the second straight game they outplayed the Spurs down the stretch, defying both their “choker” reputation and also that of the Spurs’, as the smart, steady veteran team that knows how to close games in the clutch.”
Berry Tramel: “The final buzzer sounded, and the Thunder celebrated only mildly. The AT&T Center was stunned; its heroes had lost for the second time in eight days, after the whole NBA had combined to beat the Spurs just once all season in Alamo City. So the Thunder’s 95-91 victory was worthy of jubilation. But the Thunder was largely muted leaving the court. A few hugs. A few smiles, including a grin from a certain Billy Donovan who is up 3-2 on Gregg Popovich. Mitch McGary clapped his hands. That’s about it. The Thunder stayed calm. Which is as it should be. That’s why the Thunder won.”