The Thunder Way: Loud, boisterous and explosively athletic |
There has been a lot of talk about the Thunder taking that next and probably final step in their jaunt toward dynasty status. Most people consider a dynasty to be made up of the classic ingredients: one or two superstars, a well organized and executed "system," role players who play only within their roles and DE-FENSE. But the Thunder, as we are starting to witness do it in their own way. They do it BIG, sort of like the NBA's playoff campaign. They do it in the complete opposite way that the Spurs do it and I'm starting to think, maybe they don't need to act like a classic dynasty in order to achieve the same level of success.
I'm not going to sit here and give you more rhetoric on how much I love Oklahoma City or how I wouldn't doubt it if the Spurs still won this series, I'm just going to show you a play that may just well embody the newest dynasty in the microcosm of one play. The Spurs exploded out of the halftime break storming back from eight point deficit to create their own three point lead. But the Thunder absorbed the run from the Spurs, got settled in and started materializing their own monster lead. With a one point lead at 72-71 Thunder superstar and rising defensive presence, Kevin Durant, picked Tony Parker's pocket which lead an OKC fast break going the other way. Durant and Westbrook engaged in a 2-on-1 with Stephen Jackson and this is what happened:
Just listen to the crowd. Silence. All you can hear is Westbrook yelling like he had just torn down the backboard, shattered the glass and sucked the oxygen out of the building. It wasn't even the dunk that stunned everyone, though spectacular, it was the way that Westbrook flailed his legs and swung his arms and just acted like a madman. His celebration was so similar to this, and to the same sort of effect. Not only did he just make a big play, he told everyone in San Antonio about it. I just watched the 2-on-1 develop and said out loud, "Oh s**t, here we go." And boom, it happened. The lead had only grown by two, but the momentum had completely shifted Oklahoma City's way. It was Kevin Durant connecting with his heavily criticized teammate on what was the dagger, before Harden's dagger. The Thunder eventually grew that lead to 12 before the Spurs fought back just like everyone thought. But even as we watched Oklahoma City seemingly choke away a big lead just like they did in Game 4 of last year's playoffs against the Mavericks, there was still an air about this 2012 version of the Thunder that was different. The Thunder finished the game, unlike they last year, and pretty much stunned the Spurs, the crowd and all the basketball purists who look to San Antonio as the savior of "team" basketball. But people might need to realize that this supremely athletic, scarily young team may just win in that way, playing like guys who just want to talk smack, make highlight reels, and feed off their frenzy-induced crowd. It's like the rich man's team of Blake Griffins, that is, without all the flopping and lack of defense.
We'll see what happens on Wednesday night, but for now we have to realize that Oklahoma City's exciting style of play can actually win them a championship.
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