I think Thunder will get the job done

Spurs are the best example of how to play team basketball since the Bird era Celtics. Just great to watch. You can have all your chest bumping, above the rim, ego driven superstars IMO. I am just enjoying watching this team so much more than I have enjoyed watching the NBA circus for a long time.

Wow! This is just a demolition.

The Spurs would sweep the Heat if they were playing tomorrow.

I have never seen such high quality team basketball in all my life.

Extraordinary stuff.

I believe the commentators just reinforced what I was saying.

"basketball in it's purest form"
"Like the 70's Celtics"
"This is what the game is all about"

Time for fanbois to start to understand the game rather than the just the hype and marketing.

Thank god that there's still a place for the TEAM in what's meant to be a team sport !

Spotted as a tweet on the GameCast:

So the Spurs have won 20 in a row, and the Thunder have to win four of the next five? Cool.

Spurs to sweep to a championship would be an epic story.

Lebron and Wade are going to have to have monster games every night to take it out.

I know all they've done in this series is protect home court but I'm almost ready to reconsider scoffing at the idea of the Spurs sweeping to (or even through) the finals.

When it was first mentioned, I thought it was crazy talk and to be completely honest, I still do...even if it happens I'll have difficulty believing it.

I'll hold off for now, if they get 3-0 up in this series I might have to seriously rethink.

I think the best finals run in NBA history is the Lakers with 15-1 in 2000/01? Only loss was in overtime!

Anytime someone takes a record away from the Lakers, I'm happy.
Of course 10 straight is still a loooooong way from 15 or 16.

Not referring to anyone here, but it's amazing how the Spurs have gone from 'boring' to 'pure teamwork' in just 20 wins. Anyone who isn't on the bandwagon better get a move on - it's almost full!

I've been saying it for month's now, the Spurs are playing the most attractive basketball I have seen in a very, very long time...

That Splitter is very good 4 them I like his unselfishness!!

Agreed Orbit, reminds me of a very very similar player (Brazilian too) Anderson Varejao.

Not a good FT shooter, but you can't underestimate the value he brings to the team

He's a 65% free throw shooter still.

I've loved Splitters potential ever since he became a Spur, the guy has great coordination for a big guy, as well as pretty good athleticism. They are doing something right in Europe, because their big men seem to be more capable ball coordination, movement & passing wise. In the last couple of seasons Splitter has developed enormously and will hopefully continue to do so.
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In reference to a past Spurs post of mine, it's time for an update.

I'd like to say - as a long time Spurs supporter - it's certainly different to see the media actually covering San Antonio. Over the past decade, they've got as much coverage as a 10th seed who isn't going to be talked about for either playoffs nor lottery draft. It's almost like the Spurs were in the deep abyss, well outside of any journalist's sight.

Why do the Spurs fly under the radar and exceed expectations every.single.year in the past decade?

J.A. Adande at ESPN's TrueHoop writes an interesting article with his reasoning.

The problem is, they're a PBS documentary and we're a nation that's addicted to shows about the Kardashians.

The goal is the Larry O'Brien trophy, not the Nielsen ratings. The Spurs recognize that better than any other franchise. That’s why they stay winning. And if their winning ways doesn’t make any national noise, their response is more silence.

Now we're seeing a plethora of attention given, it really does make for great reading. Bill Simmons, one of my favourite journalists (highly recommend visiting grantland.com) shares his take on the Spurs.

If you love basketball and (more important) love watching basketball played correctly, the 2012 San Antonio Spurs have a way of grabbing your attention. They play beautifully together. They pull for each other. They make each other better. They score so easily, and in so many different ways, that you almost can't even process all the different plays as a whole.

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The Spurs game 2 victory v Thunder was, especially in the first half and beginning of the third quarter, surgical. It was clinical. Some of best basketball I have ever seen. For over a decade the Spurs have been playing with one of the top offensive strategies in the NBA, right now it is as visible as ever. These guys play as a team, they make the extra pass, every player has a role and knows his role, the Spurs are playing fundamentally strong basketball.

The Spurs have depth
As we've talked about previously, the Spurs aren't just 8-9 deep in the playoffs, they're a solid 10 (even 11) deep.

Tim Duncan is playing like the Timmy of 2000, Parker is in playoff MVP form, especially with his 34pts and 8asts in 15-21 shooting against the Thunder in Game 2. Ginobili showed us something he hasn't done during his injury riddled regular season absolutely SPANKING the Thunder on his way to 26 points knocking down big threes and slicing through the Thunder D on the way to the basket.

Diaw, the guy who was on the bench for the last placed Bobcats, who was then cut and signed by the Spurs is now in the starting line up of the leagues top team! His games, especially today has added that extra dimension and depth, along with the pick up of Stephen Jackson who during Game 1's fourth quarter completely stopped Kevin Durant with some excellent D.

Tiago Splitter has stepped up his playing level, cutting to the basket and making excellent passes to the likes of Rookie Kawhi Leonard who, in scoring 18 points G2 v Thunder, has shown he too can step up in the playoffs. Green, cut by the Cavaliers and Bonner have been playing their roles as expected and Neal absolutely shot the lights out in G1 v Thunder.

That's 10 players in the rotation - and I'd imagine if the Spurs face the Heat, Dejuan Blair will get an increase in time as well, making it 11.

The Spurs can score, and score big

The wise mind of Bill Simmons is to be referred to:

Thank God for the Spurs, an offensive powerhouse that has single-handedly saved the playoffs from turning into a rockfight. They're headed for a second sweep while pacing the league in points per game (103.7), shooting (49.1 percent) and 3-point shooting (42.7 percent). It's the best version of international basketball we've ever seen — the Spurs might as well be Argentina or Spain, only with superior players. Everything revolves around their slash-and-kick guys (Parker and Ginobili), their 3-point shooters (too many to count) and their versatile big men (Duncan, Diaw and Splitter, all of whom know where to go and what to do). And unlike Nash's high-scoring Suns teams from back in the day, San Antonio can also rebound and protect the rim, which makes them our single most dangerous playoff favorite since the 2001 Lakers. They aren't just beating teams, they're eviscerating them.

The Spurs scored 37 points in the third quarter v the Thunder in Game 2 and following a 39 point fourth quarter v the Thunder in Game 1.

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The_Champ33 I think you'll hate being reminded of your post

They'll limp to the West finals at best. They are old and slow.

Anybody 4 and below have a chance of beating the Spurs. No way they can defeat the Thunder.

At this point in time, you could not be more wrong. You certainly weren't alone in counting out the Spurs - most people did it at the start of the year and continued to do so right up until really just a few weeks ago. I don't think anyone expected the Spurs to succeed this well, but they were never going to limp, that's for sure.

vs Utah
Game 1 106-91 Win by 15 points
Game 2 114-83 Win by 31 points
Game 3 102-90 Win by 12 points
Game 4 87-81 Win by 6 points

4-0 Sweep, utter annihilation from start to finish.

vs LA Clippers
Game 1 108-92 Win by 16 points
Game 2 105-88 Win by 17 points
Game 3 96-86 Win by 10 points
Game 4 102-99 Win by 3 points

4-0 Sweep, including a 24 point comeback

vs Thunder
Game 1 101-98 Win by 3 points
Game 2 120-111 Win by 9 points

It really speaks for itself. The Spurs aren't limping, they're steam rolling and eviscerating their competition.

Statistics & Facts
The Spurs have won their last 10/11 games against the Thunder, the Thunder need to win 4 out of the last 5 games to move onto the Finals. But to do that, they'll need to beat a Spurs team who have...

» Won 31 out of their last 33 matches
» Have not lost a match in 50 days (April 11th)
» Did not lose in the entirety of May
» Have won 20 in a row and counting
» Won 10 in a row and without a single loss in the playoffs, only three other teams have done so, the last being the Lakers in 2001

Do the Spurs even remember how to lose??

To reference myself,

What's the Spurs playoffs track record? They've won 4 championships. They have been in the playoffs for 15 consecutive years. They know how to win playoff series.

Since my post on April 24th, the Spurs have won every game since.

The Spurs are the team to beat in the Western Conference. Will they win it all? Questionable. Do they have a strong chance? Absolutely, no doubt about it.

The Spurs remain to be the team to beat in the West and they are playing better than anyone expected them to, including myself. The way they have dismantled sides has been unbelievable, and I know i'm not the only one in awe. The Spurs beat a Thunder team where the big three combined for 88 points - the Thunder don't lose games when their big three play like that. 120 points is also the highest scored in a regulation game against the Thunder all year.

What will happen back in Oklahoma? Confidence in the Spurs are rising, however it is important not to forget that role players play better at home, and when they improve and feed off the crowd, when the Thunder don't start with a bad first quarter and if the Big 3 can produce a similar effort to game 2, it is entirely possible that the Thunder will claim at least one of their home games, if not possibly both.

There is still a long way to go in the series, and the Thunder are most certainly not out of it, but it is nice for a Spurs fan to, for what must be the first time, oblige oneself in talking up a team who for so many years has been given little to no attention, and to ride the wave of confidence.

Spurs to win the championship? I'm still reluctant to call it, but it's fair to say the Spurs are exceeding expectations. At this point, despite initially predicting the Spurs not getting passed the Thunder, it's looking more like a Spurs 4-2 series victory.

I'm waiting for them to surprise me come playoffs as I have been all season.

Surprised yet? ;)

I'll tell everyone this, for a team with a 70% average win record over approximately 15 years (the highest of any professional sports team in the US), for a team with approximately 15 consecutive playoff appearances and for a team with 4 championship rings since 1999, appreciation has been surprisingly hard to come by.

People are starting to see the light, Enjoy good team basketball!

I'm glad you referenced yourself, otherwise that post had no credibility. :)

Not sure if everyone enjoyed reading your post, but as a Spurs fan I sure did.

thanks for taking the time to put all that together KET...it was nice reading...

I loved your post KET, and I love watching the Spurs. It's basketball at it's very best. I sincerely hope that they win it all.

The reason why Lebron will enjoy the underdog status against the Spurs is because when he loses (by not playing well in the 4th quarters) he can say "well, we were never going to beat them anyway. My life is better than yours, haters!"

Spurs suck. I hope they choke. So what if they swept Utah and the clippers, the Perth wildcats could do that. Let's see how well their offence runs in Oklahoma