Friday, November 2nd, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  64 responses

Post Up: Battle Out West

Tony Parker and Tim Duncan lead the Spurs past OKC.

by Peter Walsh / @goinginsquad

Spurs (2-0) 86, Thunder (0-1) 84

Wouldn’t it be great if the Spurs and Thunder played each other at least once a week?

The two teams matchup perfectly:

Parker vs. Westbrook

Leonard vs. Durant

Duncan vs. Ibaka / Perkins

It’s really a joy to watch and last night’s game proved to be another chapter in what’s becoming one of the better rivalries in the NBA. OKC got off to a quick start, using their speed and high volume scoring ability to jump out to an early lead against their hosts. With the San Antonio playing the second night of a back-to-back, it looked like it might have been a rout early on. But Coach Pop quickly got his guys in order and the Spurs responded, eventually tying the score and ensuring NBA fans watching at home that the one game of the night wouldn’t be a dud.

Over the next three quarters, the two teams traded blows with neither relenting and counter-punching with authority until an epic finish.

First Tim Duncan blocked a Kevin Durant dunk attempt:

Then Russ Westbrook hit TP with a quick spin and score:

Later on, Westbrook found his running mate for the nice alley-oop:

Then Duncan showed some spring in those 36-year old, well traveled legs and dunked on Serge Ibaka:

At the end of the third with the Thunder down 66-63, Eric Maynor nailed a 66-foot jumper to set the stage for a great fourth quarter:

After battling back and forth during the final quarter of play, Tony Parker took over and iced the game for the Spurs. Parker first hit a three-pointer that tied the game at 84 and on the next possession, TP caught Westbrook slippin’ and nailed an open shot from the wing for the win:

This season is gonna be fun, folks.

Quick Hitters:

– Westbrook finished with 18 points on 6-21 shooting, 5 assists and 6 turnovers. He also made a terrible play on the last possession that freed up Parker for the game-winning shot. Westbrook is always going to catch flack for not being a “pure point guard” but he’s too gifted not to have the ball in his hands. My suggestion (for what it’s worth): Give Maynor starter’s minutes at the point and play Westbrook off the ball and allow him more of a slasher role.

– Durant led the way with 23 points, 14 boards and 5 assists.

– James Harden’s opening night stat line: 37 points, 12 assists, 6 boards 4 steals. Kevin Martin’s: 15 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds. Jeremy Lamb’s: DNP.

– The most telling stat of the game: San Antonio’s 27 assists on 35 field goals.

– Over the first two games, Tim Duncan has turned back the clock and put together two masterful –performances. It will be interesting to see whether or not he can keep it up, though Pop will probably start to cut his minutes to preserve him for the Playoffs.

– When it’s all said and done, the Kawhi Leonard / Kevin Durant matchup may go down as one of the best ever. As the two continue to play each other and figure the other out, games will become more like a chess match with each trying to stay one move ahead of the other.

– Saw a lot of people on Twitter commenting on the Spurs new unis. I am not a fan.

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  • LakeShow

    Marion and Leonard are bad offensive players. They get buckets by being scrappy and quick. Leonard will never be a good offensive player imo. But I also don’t think Marion was ever a good offensive player. You can get 20 ppg in the right system if your scrappy and crafty.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Marion put up 21 a game on 52% shooting one season (and was still shooting 3.6 three-pointers a game). You can be a good offensive player without pretty skills.
    .
    you always mix up being good with being skilled.

  • LakeShow

    Yeah I guess I was thinking more about Marion the last 5 years. He was surprisingly good offensively for how ugly his game looked on that end of the floor when he was younger. I am just not as high on this Leonard kid as the rest of ya’ll are.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    I really don’t blame you for that, I wasn’t this high on him till I watched a few preseason games
    .

  • http://twitter.com/AjpDos Allen Powell

    People started discussing it last year somewhat. I’ve been discussing it for two or three years. When your team starts competing for rings, people start watching what you do. With expectations comes criticism. Westbrook is easier to blame, but everyone can see their sets are beyond basic.

  • LakeShow

    What was he doing that was so impressive?
    Just intelligence wise or physically?

  • Patrick

    No one mentioning the fact that there’s only 6 thunder players on the team from last year. Give them time to flow. Look at how well the stacked lakers are doing

  • The Seed

    Wheres KD fire is the question? Everyone will jump off the bandwagon by the time this season is over. I am a Rockets fan now too, Go HARDEN~!!!

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Well I knew he was capable physically from last season. But in the preseason he just seemed much more confident, and he was a more “involved” part of the offense. Seeing that and factoring in everything I was hearing about him, is what changed my perception.

  • Datkid

    and again he’s been naggily getting injured more and more every year since he’s been in the league. Just bc he wasn’t MISSING GAMES doesn’t mean he wasn’t injured it just means he was playing through it. and I say rose is more likely to get hurt because while Westbrook has literally never been injured. Rose has.Rose has more of a history of injury at this point that’s not an opinion. and Rose isn’t a better shooter. last year westbrook shot better than or the sam as him from literally everywhere on the floor 46/32/82 vs 43/31/81 Westbrook makes mental mistakes sure, and rose is more under control but the difference in their passing ability is negligible. There’s no clear proof that rose is actually significantly better than westbrook. none at all. Yes Westbrook played badly, but so did everyone else. This loss isn’t just on him.

  • Datkid

    and I don’t know why you’re repeating yourself with the “if they both didn’t have athleticism” argument. I already agreed with you that rose would be better if both lost their athletic prowess. But let’s keep it 100 here. They would both just be mediocre NBA players. Derrick Rose doesn’t do anything so well that he’d be good without his superior athleticism.

  • Datkid

    you think they won’t just put mayor in and slide RW to the 2 whenever things get to out of hand? and I think you’re underrating RW’s playmaking skills a lot here lol

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Has it ever occurred to you that Rose puts more of a toll on his body because he has to carry an offense? Whereas Westbrook is playing with the best scorer in the league who’s also the 2nd best player in the league? It makes a difference. And with that, Rose has only had 1 season where injuries nagged him until the ACL tear. He’s definitely not injury prone. Just had one unfortunate season.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    No, not underrating his playmaking skills at all. I’ve just watched him play since he was at UCLA. Everyone knows what his instincts are. Unless Maynor is a lot better than he’s shown himself to be thus far in his career, I don’t see him making too much of a difference and whatever he does, he definitely won’t replace James Harden

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