Much has been said about the young, All-Star studded lineup that the Oklahoma City Thunder puts out for every game. However, the San Antonio Spurs are showing everybody why they were the best team in the West during the regular season. Thursday night they dominated with a 105-88 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Spurs two stars are setting the tone and leading the way. Tony Parker, who turned 30 last night, outplayed everybody on the court, scoring a game high 22 points accompanied by five assists. Tim Duncan, who is becoming an ageless wonder, had 18 points with five rebounds and three assists. He is now 36 years old. Manu Ginobili, who has been slowed down by injuries, chipped in with 10 points from the bench.
Even though their core players are aging, the Spurs have added key players to their squad. Boris Diaw, who is also 30, is contributing with solid performances night in and night out. Kawhi Leonard is not even an adult yet. Leonard, who is only 20 years old, provided the Spurs with a spark after going 3-3 from three and dropping 16 points on the Clippers in Game 1. Danny Green is only 24 years old and is a solid all around player.
There seems to be the perfect combination of young, fresh talent and experienced veterans in San Antonio. When compared to a team like the Thunder, the Spurs seem like they lack speed and offense, but the Spurs have slowed down Chris Paul and Blake Griffin pretty well. "Lob City" has not been dominating headlines and every time Griffin tries to go up for a dunk, the Spurs make sure they foul him.
If the Spurs can contain Griffin and Paul then chances are they will not struggle too much against Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Of course, the Thunder's dynamic duo is a much more dangerous foe since they shoot well from the outside and can easily penetrate through the defense for easy buckets, but they looked very sluggish against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2.
Both the Spurs and Thunder are undefeated in the playoffs so far. Yes, they have to beat the teams they are facing now before we are able to see a Western Conference Finals matchup between the two teams, but they are playing very good basketball. If the Spurs continue to pound their opponents the way they have done so far, they will be the team representing the West in the NBA Finals.