Previewing the conference finals: Parker in the spotlight
The Western Conference Finals are set. The San Antonio Spurs will tip off against the Oklahoma City 
Thunder on Sunday night in what should be a very exciting series. The Spurs won the regular season series with the Thunder 2-1 but you can throw the regular season out the window when you get to the playoffs.
The Spurs will have to play their best basketball of the season if they want to get past the Thunder. It’s undeniable that San Antonio has been playing outstanding, and they honestly look like the best team in the NBA right now, but you can’t ignore the fact that their level of competition has been subpar. The Spurs matched up very well against the Jazz and Clippers, and took care of them with ease. The Thunder won’t go down so easily.
For the Spurs to succeed in this series, a lot rests on the shoulders of Tony Parker. Parker had a tough task against the Clippers, matching up with Chris Paul. He had his ups and downs but he has to play at his best level against OKC.
In the Spurs 2 wins this season against the Thunder, Parker scored 42 and 25 points and dropped 9 and 7 assists. In the loss, Parker had just 4 points on 1-8 shooting and 7 assists. He was incredible in the Spurs’ 107-96 win back in February and if he plays like that, the Spurs are going to be almost unstoppable.
Parker will also have the tough task of locking down the Thunder’s dynamic young point guard Russell Westbrook. This will be a matchup of two very high-scoring point guards and it will come down to youth vs. experience. I like Parker’s veteran leadership in this matchup but if you’ve watched Westbrook play, you know what he’s capable of. For more of an in-depth look at the Parker-Westbrook matchup, check out Project Spurs' Trevor Zickgraf's article.
I’m looking forward to watching this matchup develop throughout the series. The Spurs have shown in their first two playoff series that their experience is key to their success. If Tony Parker can step up and show he’s the best point guard in this matchup, I like the Spurs’ chances.
Here's the thing about the "lesser opponents" the spurs faced, while I think both the mavs and lakers would win, I can see the jazz pushing the mavs hard, and the clippers would push the lakers as well. The thunder had a tougher road BUT it was not that much tougher. They, like the spurs, had good matchups also. Thunder are notoriously not good at pick and roll offense, and neither the mavs or lakers are PNR teams.
Matt Bonner is the key in winning this series. The OKC frontline is limited to inside play and Ibaka won't go after Bonner on the ouotside to guard him so he has to down those treys.Spurs in 4 at the most 5
HELLO SPURS FANS. IS THERE ANY WAY WE CAN HAVE BLACKED OUT SHIRTS FOR THE PLAYOFF GAMES . I THINK WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING TO GET THE FANS INVOLVED MORE. IN 99 EVERYBODY HAD THE FLAGS AND STICKERS. WHERE DID IT GO. I AM CHALLENGING EVERY SPURS FAN IN SAN ANTO TO BRING ALL YOUR OLD CHAMP SHIT OUT AND CHEER LOUD AND HARD FOR YOUR SPURS. THE SPURS WILL NEED US TO ROCK THAT BUILDING AND THE CITY WITH OUT VIOLENCE. I ALREADY BOUGHT MY TICKET TO HOME GAME 3 OF THE NBA FINALS. I HOPE THE SPURS SWEEP EVERYTHING BUT I BOUGHT HOME GAME 3 SO I COULD MAYBE SEE THEM HOLD THE TROPHY UP IN THE AIR WHILE I CRY NEXT TO A RANDOM PERSON I DONT KNOW . GO SPURS GO IN HONOR OF SPLITTERS COUNTRY JUMP THE FUCK UP EVERYBODY http://youtu.be/80OjD3SSWIQ
It's separating the chaff from the grain time. The thunders dispose of what appears to be stronger team in the lakers, while the spurs beat the clippers a ligther opponent. But it appears that the Spurs were just toying with clippers, while the thunders were taken to their limit. True, it will come down to experience. The Spurs hass been there before, 15 years of playing playoff basketball. Tje Spurs in 4? Go Spurs!
