SAN ANTONIO – Tonight, for the ninth time in the past six and a half months the Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs will clash. Prior to tonight’s Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals, the season and playoff series was tied 4-4, a perfect representation of how evenly matched these two squads have been so far in this hotly contested 2-2 series.
Whichever team can rack up two more wins over the final three games of this seven-game slugfest will advance to the Western Conference Finals, but completing that task will be incredibly challenging. Both teams know each other inside and out – which sets they run, their out of bounds plays and every piece of pertinent information about which personnel could be on the floor.
There’s a science to the preparation, but also obviously an emotional element to such a passion-driven game. The key for Head Coach Billy Donovan is getting down to the bone, presenting his team with the necessary material to overcome whatever in-game hurdles it faces.
“When you’re in a competitive situation, there’s always residual effect,” Donovan said. “The biggest thing is to try to create a true reality in terms of what actually happened and then talk about the things we have control over.”
Having clearly defined objectives, rules and game plans for specific situations is a major help, and that’s basically what postseason basketball becomes at this stage. The Thunder and Spurs can’t fundamentally become different teams at this point in the season, but they can make alterations to play its best brand of basketball that works against a certain opponent. The key to it all is a focus, concentration and ability to execute for all four quarters. Commitment to the game plan, with defensive tenacity and offensive flow, is crucial.
“We have to play a full 48. We kept playing, kept moving the ball and moving our bodies,” Kevin Durant pointed out. “We have to make multiple passes and multiple body movement actions in order for us to get a good shot.”
Besides the x’s and o’s, there’s a human element to Game 5 as well. In a hostile environment against a veteran-laden, machine-like Spurs team that won 67 games and had the best scoring margin in the NBA, the Thunder will have only one another to rely upon to seize the moment. Being able to communicate with one another, deal with problems and face them together is paramount to getting through Spurs runs, and it’s all predicated on the relationships the players on this team have with one another.
“If you have a great off-court relationship with someone, you understand how they work, what you can say to them, how to approach them about certain things and make sure they understand the message and receive the message well,” Steven Adams explained. “When you have that relationship, everything on the court becomes a lot easier. A lot of the [nonsense] gets thrown out the window. It’s just the truth. Facts, really.”
Game 5’s in the NBA playoffs are often swing games, and the Thunder has the chance to return to Oklahoma City with a 3-2 series lead and a better grip on its fate. To get there, however, it will take four quarters of excellent basketball. With leaders like Durant and Russell Westbrook, veterans in Nick Collison and Serge Ibaka and young, emerging players like Adams, Enes Kanter and Dion Waiters, the Thunder has the talent to do it. Now, it’s a matter of going out and getting the job done.
“It’s going to be the toughest game all year,” Kanter said. “They’re going to come out ready, but we can’t worry about what they’re doing. We have to come out ready.”
“It’s going to take everything,” Adams opined.
Broadcast Information:
Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. CT
Television: TNT, Postgame on Fox Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS the Sports Animal and the Thunder Radio Network