Game two of the western conference finals will have to be a superb game to equal that of game one. The San Antonio Spurs overcame a nine-point final quarter deficit to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder to take a 1-0 series lead. The win was the 19th consecutive for the Spurs dating back to April 11. The Spurs needed something extra from their veteran coach Gregg Popovich in the game and between the third and fourth quarter break Popovich gave the players a tongue-lashing and told them to get “nasty.” The Spurs obliged and went out and scored 39 points in the fourth quarter to win.
Since the Spurs win on Sunday night, the Thunder has only heard about their collapse in the fourth quarter. If San Antonio wins game two, they would not only go up 2-0 in the series but becomes only the fourth team to win 20 or more straight games. The Spurs players insist their only goal is to win seven more games and that would give them the NBA title. If they win the seven consecutively great, if not, that is great as well.
The Thunder coach Scott Brooks admitted he should have put Serge Ibaka back into the lineup sooner in the fourth quarter. Ibaka came in second place for the defensive player of the year award this season. Brooks said having Ibaka on the bench worked well in the previous two series, as it gave the team a smaller lineup to matchup better against both the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers.
The Thunder need to continue doing what they do best shot, shot and shot some more. Kevin Durant scored 27 in game one, but Russell Westbrook only had 17, well below his playoff average. James Harden added 18 points for the Thunder with 11 of them coming in the crucial fourth quarter. He must attack more on the offensive end in game two.
The line opened with the Spurs as the favorite at home by 4 ½ points and has not moved. The total opened at 204 but has been bet down to just 201 ½. Smart money takes the Thunder and the 4 ½ with the total cashing out to the UNDER.
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