Saturday, June 2, 2012

Spurs - Thunder Game Four Top 30 Takeaways

30) Kendrick Perkins likes to shoot early in games, just on the off chance that he has a game like this one

29) Reggie Miller learned that there are other languages that he could have talked trash in, because Reggie Miller is a moron

28) The Spurs picked up a ton of early paint points, mostly because they remembered to penetrate and push off

27) OKC runs out on breaks so hard, they frequently score uncontested after a miss

26) Gregg Popovich actually answered a question from Craig Sager as if he didn't want to immediately set him on fire

25) Kevin Durant played rope a dope with the early close physical defense

24) When the Thunder bigs are playing this well, and Tim Duncan is struggling, the Spurs look as soft as, well, Boris Diaw

23) Say this for Thunder Fan, they get as quiet as church when their guys shoot FTs

22) Serge Ibaka blocks so many shots, he can just goaltend without consequence

21) When you get the first 8 dunks, you should be up by more than 8 points

20) Despite everything going the Thunder's way, the Spurs never fell out of range

19) DaJuan Blair for Anthony Bonner is a genius move by Popovich, but so would Any Live Body

18) Ibaka shot tonight like he was in a video game, on easy setting, with a cheat code

17) This Durant fellow is downright dangerous, especially when he doesn't have to carry his team all game long

16) James Harden to Durant for the perfect alley oop, early in the shot clock with three minutes left, showed the impudence and utter confidence of youth, and is worth at least another 500 words of overwrought, but I'm not a Celtic Fan

15) When the Spurs need a bucket, they go... to whoever is open, just like the first 46 minutes, and tonight, it was Kawhi Leonard, who drained threes to keep the pressure on

14) Thabo Sefolosha's steal with 34 seconds left showed that, yes, he does have a role in close and late situations

13) San Antonio has gone from a team that looked like they were going to go unbeaten in the playoffs to a best of 3 elimination

12) I'm not saying that Danny Green didn't show up in this game, but he was 7 points away from a milk carton, and three came at the buzzer to make it a 6-point game

11) The Thunder might have the biggest home court advantage in the NBA, and it extends to the post-game little kid game

10) Stephen Jackson actually said that "if you are scared to play, tomorrow's Sunday, go to church" as if church was purely for the weak

9) When either of these teams are playing at their best, they both seem utterly unbeatable

8) The single best thing about tonight's outcome is that it means that we're going to get at least two more games of this series

7) I can't tell you how irritated I am by the Goodyear blimp's offensive goaltending

6) Manu Ginobili was -13 tonight, and in case you think that stat means nothing, the six turnovers are the reason why

5) Craig Sager interviewed Kendrick Perkins' very little kid in the post game, who turns out to be nearly as eloquent as his dad

4) While Popovich went 12 deep tonight with minutes, he still gave Duncan 36 minutes, which could be a factor in the next three games

3) Westbrook had a 7-4-5 line tonight with 2 of 10 shooting and 3 turnovers, which was the secret sauce of how the Thunder didn't win in a blowout when their bigs shot 22 of 25 (!)

2) Durant deferred for three quarters and still wound up with a 36-6-8 line on 13 of 20 shooting, which is to say, Kevin Durant Is Freaking Unfair

1) If you don't love this series, regardless of whether or not you like pro hoop, you are wrong