The End of An Era

A Dy-Nasty No More

SA at OKC (-2.5) (UNDER 207.5)
I hate the Thunder. You should know this by now, guy that reads mildly popular, random blogs on the internet. As soon as Serge Ibaka returned from his "injury" I knew the Spurs were DONE. That's right, the Spurs dynasty has come to a close in the most ironic way possible. For all their team ball, pass first mentality, it's an out of control point guard and a once in a lifetime scorer killing them. For all the great coaching and exploiting weaknesses, they can't find a way to exploit mismatches in the post. Last, but not least, for all the quiet, no nonsense monotony, it's the wild, explosive and energy driven dynamism that has really exposed the Spurs. When it comes down to it, Tony Parker can't beat Russell Westbrook and neither could Chris Paul. Tim Duncan can't take over a game and score 40 anymore. Manu Ginobli, once very much like Westbrook where you would have to take the good with the bad, is less good now and a little more bad (probably 65/35). When you couple that with the Spurs lack of athleticism beyond Kawhi Leonard, the writing is on the wall.

I really don't want to believe anything I just wrote, and hopefully I'm wrong, but these perennial greats always have some foil that ruins everything! Look at the Patriots: Basically the same team, same rules, same result. They looked unbeatable, like some machine of a franchise that did everything right. UNTIL THEY PLAYED THE JETS. Seriously?! The Jets and Mark Sanchez?! Something about that team shut the machine down and stopped the march to greatness. Hell, throw the Giants in there too! The Spurs just can't do it. The Thunder are too quick to close out, they have too much length and create too many chaotic situations for the Spurs. San Antonio relies on instinct, chemistry and smarts to make up for shortcomings, but when Westbrook decides to take on a double team and not pass to Durant in the corner, there's no "smart" play! At that point, you need to match the athleticism to weather the chaos. I love Pop and the Spurs, but unfortunately, I think this is it. Serge "The Spurs Killer" has swung this one.
Ibaka