NBA: Explosive Western Finals Series Set
The NBA Playoffs are definitely heating up. The Oklahoma City Thunder have eliminated the San Antonio Spurs with a Game 6 113-99 win in the Western semi-finals. The Thunder are now headed to the Western Conference Finals where they are set to clash with the reigning NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors.
As the Spurs bid goodbye to the 2015-16 season, many are reflecting on the possibility that this may have been the last game that their Big 3 are playing together. The trio of Frenchman Tony Parker, Argentinian firebrand Manu Ginobili, and superstar power forward Tim Duncan have carried the franchise to its greatest heights. Aged 40 and 39 years respectively, Duncan and Ginobili could be looking at retirement as an option after this season, and that would spell the end of an amazing era of NBA basketball.
Looking ahead, the Thunder now have the tough task of taking down one of the greatest teams the league has ever seen. Stephen Curry, who is a player who deserves an entire echelon all to himself, will be almost impossible to contain defensively. He will have the scoring support of backcourt-mate Klay Thompson to pile on those points on the scoreboard, and of course Draymond Green who literally does a little a lot of everything for the team. That said, if there’s a team in the league outside of the Cleveland Cavaliers that can possibly match the Warriors’ scoring stride for stride, it’s the Thunder. The lengthy Kevin Durant is capable of getting in his own zone and scoring at will. He has the opportunity to opt of his contract before 2016-17. How well or poorly his team performs in these playoffs will weight heavily on his decision. For now, his future is not his focus. Durant has his eye on the prize and that’s definitely an NBA championship. Russell Westbrook, who mainly has been overshadowed by all the Steph Curry accolades this year, has had a pretty impressive season himself. He’s a nightly triple-double threat and will surely be able to give Curry a handful of headaches on the defensive end.
While the Warriors are favored in this match-up and are expected to proceed to the NBA finals, the Thunder have the drive, the hunger and the tools to pull off an upset. Regardless of how this series ends up panning out, expect a little bit more than sparks to fly in this series as both teams lay it all on the line.