Thundering Back: OKC Ends Spurs’ Streak With Big Win

The Spurs had been running their motion offense to perfection over their 20-game winning streak, and after the Thunder were destroyed by it in the first two games, they figured out the correct counter-action: swarming defense. It’s easier said than done, of course, but SB Nation’s Welcome To Loud City did a pretty solid job of explaining what allowed the Thunder to avoid a sweep.

Whether they’re able to pull off that feat again in Game 4 is still up for debate, but for at least one night, the Thunder were able to prove that great defense is able to negate a good offense.

The prevailing answer, it seems, is that the Thunder came out hungry while the Spurs were flat and never recovered. That isn’t all that surprising considering Oklahoma City had the home crowd behind them, but Pounding the Rock’s Fred Silva wrote about the San Antonio loss in excruciating detail.

“Depressingly difficult” was a phrase many believed would describe the Thunder’s chances to win the Western Conference finals following the first two games of the series. Heading into the weekend, though -- and another home game for the Thunder -- the momentum seems to be firmly on the side of the Thunder.

It seems everyone is pointing to the new defensive matchup except Parker. During his postgame press conference, Parker downplayed the defensive switch, noting he’s seen it before. “OKC put (Sefolosha) on me last year, two years ago,” he said. “It’s nothing different for me. I just have to find my spots.”

Parker’s 16 points and four assists in Game 3 were his lowest postseason totals since Game 4 of the Spurs’ opening-round series against Utah. Only time will tell if Brooks’ defensive tactic was a one-game fluke or enough to turn the series back in Oklahoma City’s favor.

So there was the TNT crew, filling time on set during the postgame show. And behind them was a spirited game of basketball between the children of players and others connected to the Thunder organization.

There’s video of it all. Adorable video.

It was the Spurs’ first loss since April 11. San Antonio had won 20 straight games, including all 10 of their postseason contests. Tony Parker finished with 16 points and four assists, but also had five turnovers. Parker had six total turnovers in the first two games of the series.

The two teams will meet in Game 4 on Saturday.

There’s no way Serge Ibaka is this good at a staring contest. I’m going to assume a zombie ate his brains.

Few things in basketball get me excited more than a baseline cut. It’s such a hard move to time, and we see it less and less these days with so much emphasis being placed on spacing the floor. Even if the player makes the cut right, it then only pays off when the passer sees it happening and delivers the pass at the perfect time.

Forget the fact that Westbrook is a point guard slamming that dunk down. Just consider how difficult it is for both parties to time this right. Not only did Harden spot Westbrook’s cut on time, but he also placed the pass in to him perfectly despite being in his jump-shooting motion. Words can’t describe how difficult that is for Harden to do.

Lost in a sea of Thunder, he stood out like a sore thumb. Everyone in blue, this man bucking the trend. Clapping, screaming, banging of Thunder Stix all around, he stood quietly, emotionless is a sea of jubilation.

It was then he realized he a load of laundry in the washer.

1,000 words follow.

Besides having him guard Tony Parker and help out on shooters, the Thunder are having Thabo Sefolosha and other wings (notably Kevin Durant) switch assignments off the ball. This has allowed the Thunder to counteract the Spurs’ player movement and keep all eyes focused on the ball without giving up backdoor cuts.

We rag on Scott Brooks a lot, but he’s made some tremendous adjustments to spur the Thunder to this double-digit lead.

We may get a seven-word post-game press conference from Pop at this rate. Either that, or he’ll sign on to be Snickers’ spokesman.

Divine intervention? Conspiracy? Only the eye in the sky knows.

Maybe I’m overreacting, but then again, the Spurs have 46 points through 28 minutes, and the only major adjustment Scott Brooks has made schematically is having Thabo Sefolosha guard Tony Parker more. On one recent play, Sefolosha fought through two screens and still found time to rush out and run Kawhi Leonard off the three-point line in the corner.

It almost makes you wonder why it took two games for Brooks to empower Sefolosha like this.

TALK ABOUT THAT.

For more on the Spurs, be sure to visit Pounding the Rock; for the Thunder, Welcome to Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation’s NBA page.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have held the mighty San Antonio Spurs’ offense to just 41 points in the first half. This stat probably has something to do with why:

Thabo Sefolosha’s minutes in Game 2: 15

Thabo Sefolosha’s minutes in the first half of Game 3: 17

A. Riding a rollercoaster.

B. Eating a ton of ice cream, causing brain freeze.

I’m not entirely sure why Thabo Sefolosha did this. Sure, the Thunder had a foul to give at the end of the first quarter, but that doesn’t mean he should clock Manu Ginobili in the face.

At least Sefolosha didn’t wind up like Raja Bell.

Kendrick Perkins is a big man with a lot of pride and not a lot of skill. While he’s adept at post defense and screen-setting, his limitations have been exposed in this series trying to go against the speedy Spurs. It’s gotten so bad that many, including TNT’s Charles Barkley and others with the network, have concluded that this is simply not the series where he should play.

Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to convince Kerr and Miller to talk about how great Perkins is.

You have to appreciate the finish -- a gliding one-handed throwdown that made it seem like Durant stretched his arms out like he was Michael Jordan in Space Jam. You also have to appreciate the play design -- a wing-wing screen that caused just enough confusion to give Durant his opening.

We’ll have to see if this “dunk on Tim Duncan” strategy works going forward.

As noted, the Spurs are having issues with the Thunder’s new defensive matchups early in Game 3 of this Western Conference Finals series. So what’s San Antonio to do? Win with their defense, as it turns out. San Antonio has done a beautiful job closing off driving lanes and contesting Thunder shots at the rim. No team does it better — and yes, it is a skill.

Despite the major change to put Thabo Sefolosha on Tony Parker defensively, the Thunder’s schemes look pretty similar otherwise. Coach Scott Brooks is having Sefolosha fight over ball screens just like Russell Westbrook did, choosing that strategy despite Sefolosha’s length. So far, it’s working, as Sefolosha has done a great job jumping over picks to hold Parker down.

One other thing: Sefolosha is playing the passing lanes well when Parker doesn’t have the ball, cheating off him to help on other guys.

Scott Brooks has gone ahead and done the deed. After seeing his defense get shredded in the Thunder’s Game 2 loss on Tuesday, he has made a big change. Thabo Sefolosha, and not Russell Westbrook, has begun the game guarding Tony Parker.

The Thunder are giving up some speed with the matchup, but they also do a much better job contesting Parker’s jump shots under this scenario. Sefolosha can go under ball screens to prevent Parker from driving to the rim, then use his length to get a hand up on Parker’s jumpers far better than Westbrook could.

San Antonio has a 20-game winning streak on the line. Will they have a 21-game streak and a 3-0 series lead on Thursday night?

Game time/date: 9:00 p.m. ET, Thursday, May 31