Spurs Not Themselves In Game 4 Loss To Thunder.

In many respects this was a topsy-turvy game with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder switching their normal game plans.
For example, whereas San Antonio’s ball movement was spotty, Oklahoma City’s half-court sets featured all kinds of weak-side action and dive cuts, as well as kick-out and drop passes. The proof of this is the discrepancy in team assists — 23 for OKC to only 12 for SA.
Another indication of this switcheroo was San Antonio’s running 31 isos:
11 for Tony Parker for 14 points.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored only two points on his four isos.
For Kawhi Leonard, 11 for 11.
Boris Diaw three isos for six points.
David West scored a bucket on his only man-to-man opportunity.
Kyle Anderson’s one iso was fruitless.
35 points on 31 do-it-yourself situations is a healthy return, but the cost was a mostly stagnant offense.
On the other hand, the Thunder only ran 12 one-on-one plays, 10 of those for Kevin Durant that produced 10 points.
What else went wrong with San Antonio’s offense?
Three offensive fouls. Two shot-clock violations. Shooting only 2-12 from downtown. Missing numerous open mid-range jumpers and 12 layups. Plus, the Thunder keyed on Danny Green and succeeded in holding him scoreless — which, in turn, allowed the rest of their defense to sink into the paint.
Blame the Spurs for perhaps feeling overconfident only because of their cruise in Game 1 and the combination of their excellence and OKC’s stumbling as Game 3 raced to the finish line. And not because of satisfaction in winning Game 3 to “regain” the home-court advantage. In fact, at this level of play, all the talk about the importance of the home-court advantage is media-created nonsense.
For sure, while the Spurs failed to play with their usual pace, spacing and precision, the Thunder’s ball-hawking defense deserves most of the credit for this.
Moreover, OKC also overwhelmed the Spurs in two other critical aspects of the game……Read More