What a game. With everything on the line both team's came out and battled like Titans. There was no fear of tomorrow's fatigue, no hesitancy and no shying from the stage. In a game that saw both teams lead by double figures at one point or another it's hard to imagine a closer contest. This is playoff basketball at it's finest. Let's dive into a few noteworthy plays. VIDEO 1 Really nice little play here. Serge fakes setting a pin down screen for Kanter who crosses and continues up to set a high screen for Russ. Serge continues his run to the baseline then curls out to the left corner. Randy Foye steps forward out of the corner to screen for Serge. Foye gets in front of Aldridge as Serge takes the pass from Russ. Kawhi comes out to contest but Serge hits him with a pump fake and steps in for a rhythm 2 pointer. Just nice simple action. VIDEO 2 Yesterday, I pointed out how Kanter is a much better PnR defender when the ball handler attacks the rim rather than passing to the roll man or pulling up to shoot. When I saw this play live I knew I was going to write about it. Really there isn’t much to it, a high PnR with Duncan and Parker. Kanter shows his athleticism by sliding over to get in Parker’s path while retreating to avoid any contact that could generate a foul. This is credited as a block but I don’t see any contact on the ball from Kanter. Really, it is just Enes engulfing the drive and leaving no option for Parker other than to just throw the ball up and pray. For the record, Kanter isn’t the only Thunder big that can be exploited by a jump Shot from the ball handler in PnR. Adams provides no contest to speak of on Parker here. VIDEO 3 A lot was said about Serge’s poor play last night. I think everyone saw the times he bit on a pump fake and fouled and formed opinions based on that. In reality he was an excellent defender last night. He contested 18 shots in 29 minutes and had a defensive rating of 92.3. This play you can see him providing the same caliber of defense that was put on Aldridge all night. I just want to point out that he is being used as the grumpy fan’s punching bag now that Waiters, Foye and Kanter aren’t playing blatantly poorly. VIDEO 4 The boxscore and plus minus data were unkind to Roberson last night, but this play, regardless of outcome, is why he earns playing time. The play starts with a Parker and Diaw high PnR against Russ and Kanter. Diaw immediately rolls and Parker hits him with a bounce pass. Aldridge has pulled Nick across to the left side of the paint and out of the play. Kanter is on his heels, unable to react. Diaw has a straight line to the rim. At least he would have had Robes not dug down to the lane. Diaw swings out to Kawhi who has been left by Roberson. Roberson then sprints out hard to deny a 3 point attempt. Leonard gives a show and go that Robes doesn’t bit on, and drives baseline. Roberson is momentarily a step behind but is able to recover as Kanter slides over to cut off the drive. When Leonard pulls up short on the drive Robes gets a hand on the ball and strips it. Kawhi recovers and takes a 1 legged falling down jumper that banks in. Not a single thing could have been done better by Robes. VIDEO 5 Another non contest by a Thunder big when the PnR ball handler goes up for a jumper. It doesn’t escape me that assuming 1 more win against the Spurs the Thunder’s opponent will be a team that thrives off jump shots out of the PnR. The Thunder will need to switch back to their Dallas series defense of hedging hard on every screen. I was not a proponent of that at the time, but it will be absolutely necessary in the instance of playing the Warriors. VIDEO 6 A few times a game KD and Russ will do something like this that makes you wonder why they don’t do it every single play. Off a missed shot Russ brings the ball up and is picked up by Mills (mismatch). KD has been picked up by Green (mismatch). Leonard is on the opposite side of the floor either guarding Serge (they are set up with Robes playing the PF role). KD sets the screen for Russ who starts to push to his left. KD starts to pivot clockwise bumping Mills with his hip in the process. This doubles as an added aggravation for Mills fighting over the screen, but also frees some space from Green and gets him directed towards the rim for a hard roll. As Russ straightens out his curl around the KD screen Mills is on him but KD is 3 steps ahead of Danny Green and Russ. One bullet pass later sees KD raising up for a dunk over Duncan and Leonard. 2 points. VIDEO 7 College basketball coaches like to talk about their defense moving on a string. It’s this idea that every action a single player takes causes a reaction by the rest of the defense. If this “string” stays attached there will be timely rotations regardless of what the offense does. It won’t be possible for an offensive player to see a clean look at the rim even if they beat their primary defender. The above could be used as a visual description of this idea. Parker starts by running a high PnR with Aldridge but refuses the screen and goes straight to the rim. Russ is on his hip every step of the way. Kanter shows on the drive forcing a pass to Kanter’s man West on the baseline. Enes does a good job of not stepping up too far on the show and is able to simply quarter turn to be in position on the ball. West goes up for a layup and gets blocked. KD loses his man (Leonard), who gets the offensive rebound. Leonard is forced to save the ball back to West in the mid post. On the catch West has Serge and Kanter on each shoulder pressuring him. Serge retreats back to his man and Kanter gets down to guard a post iso. Russ has switched onto KD’s man, Dion is onto Russ’ original man Parker, and KD has Ginobili. Ginobili and Parker cross each other while West is looking for an outlet. KD seamlessly switches onto Parker. Parker thinks about probing to his left, but Dion has dug down to show help. The shot clock is running out and he doesn’t even get a shot up. While Parker has the ball, Russ loses Kawhi, but Kanter recognizes and slides down to cut off a passing lane until Russ recognizes and recovers. VIDEO 8 Not much to say here other than what in the world were the Spurs doing? How can you intentionally match your shooting guard up on a center during an under the basket out of bounds play? Good recognition by Russ. VIDEO 9 Most pivotal play of the game here, I think. It is the last steps to completing the comeback and features KD and Russ locked in as well as they can possibly be on defense. Both stay down in their stance. Shuffle their feet perfectly with each move from Kawhi and Parker, and finish it with a seamless switch born of years playing together. First, what in the world are the Spurs doing not trying to get into any offense until 12 seconds are left on the shot clock? Second, doesn’t this look EXACTLY like plays that the Thunder make in games they lose in the fourth quarter? KD gets probably brushes the ball on Parker’s 3 point attempt at the end of the clock (he was credited a block) and it lands in Adam’s hands at the exact moment the shot clock goes from 0.1 to 0.0. Russ walks back towards Adams and raises his hands for a pass. The refs are already heading up floor so it should be no surprise no whistle was blown. While the ball is on its way to him Russ realizes the whistle won't be blown and he goes into full attack mode. People can be mad about the no call for stoppage by the refs, but the Spurs had 3 people in the paint when Russ rose for the layup. It was a tough shot on a play very few players in the league make.
Finally, check out this break down from Mike Prada. It's safe to say this was Westbrook’s best defensive game in years. GO GAME 6!
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