Thunder - Spurs Game Five Top 40 Takeaways

That's One Sad Old Man

40) This series needs to end before Craig Sager kills us all with his clothing

39) Gregg Popovich started Manu Ginobili, under the scary idea of giving his best players the most court time

38) Serge Ibaka's first foul from Tony Parker's shoulder block was unconscionably bad, and thoroughly predictable

37) Ibaka's second foul, 44 seconds in, was Manu Being Manu, and good grief, what a start for the Spurs

36) Nick Collison's first foul was just about the clincher that Parker was going to get every call tonight

35) Kendrick Perkins drew a foul on Duncan and still bitched his way into a technical, which is just all kinds of special, really

34) Tim Duncan getting into foul trouble of his own does smell kind of get-eveny

33) Everyone who thought the Thunder bench would outscore the Spurs 22-10 on the road in the first 18 minutes... shut up, because you are lying lying liars

32) Daequan Cook's multiple threes in the second quarter should have been a game-changer, but the Spurs have this Manu guy

31) Ibaka finally missed a shot, a tip in, just to prove that he can, in fact miss

30) Gary Neal shot a three while James Harden was tying his shoes, because the refs were so uninterested in helping the road team, and because Neal couldn't go anything good for his team tonight

29) If Russell Westbrook was shooting well, this would have been a very big Thunder lead in the second quarter

28) While it's nice and proper to credit the Thunder for great defense, the Spurs also looked pretty dogmeatish from time to time

27) Duncan isn't very good at catching basketballs with his face

26) The Thunder took an 14-point second quarter lead with Kevin Durant cold, which was just is all kinds of foreshadowy

25) Ernie Johnson enjoys pantomime skits

24) The Spurs closed the second quarter well, which for some reason seems very, very important to the telecast crew

23) Westbrook smacked Parker in the head with his dribble at the end of the second quarter, then blocked Danny Green's post-buzzer heave for exercise, just to show that he's got a little Rajon Rondo in him after all

22) The Thunder played far too well in the first half to only be up by eight, which is what happens with young teams facing battle-tested vets

21) Tony Parker complained about a foul that Westbrook drew on him that was the same move he's made hundreds of times

21) Boris Diaw's o-board to Manu's three erased 1.5 quarters of Thunder domination, because that's just what this series has been about -- huge swings (18-4 to start the third)

20) Westbrook's crazy half-cartwheel layup over Duncan was just unreal athleticism, and broke the run

19) From minute to minute, each team took turns looking hopeless and unbeatable

18) Westbrook finishes lobs like nothing that should ever be allowed to play point guard

17) OKC started to penetrate and get calls -- obvious calls that Spurs Fan still screamed bloody murder over

16) Popovich said four words in the end of quarter interview, which was four too many, really

15) On some level, every fourth quarter possession that didn't end with the ball in Durant or Ginobili's hands seemed wrong

14) Say this for Stephen Jackson: he gave the Spurs good effort and results tonight, and I thought he was spent

13) Every time it looks like the Thunder are going to ride Durant to a win, the Thunder forgot about him and the Spurs make a run

12) Parker can go straight to opera or the Premier League after that flop on the Westbrook catch

11) The Spurs went old-school Jedi with the physical defense to get back in this one

10) No one will remember this play, but why Durant is passing to Perkins with 2:20 left, we'll never know

9) Westbrook refuses to think about how the game has been going when he shoots, which is to say, he has no conscience at all

8) Duncan had all day to make his old school bank on Harden late

7) Harden's three to go up five was a classic terrible possession where talent overwhelms the outcome, and why Stars Matter

6) The Spurs' veteran savvy to not foul Durant when he was expecting it, then Kawhi Leonard forcing the turnover on Thabo Sefalosha, was just insanely heady

5) The only thing wrong with this playoff series is that Reggie Miller has been paid to comment on it.

4) Paid talkers will take the Spurs to task for shooting a time-consuming three on the last meaningful possession, but the Thunder shoot FTs so well, I'm not sure they were getting a better look

3) The Spurs not being in the penalty pretty much ended any chance of them getting a last shot, which is kind of a bad rule, really

2) The refs called off the buzzer 3 from Jackson, just to drive gamblers even more insane

1) Harden called himself a role player in the post-game interview, which is true enough, given that Hero, Closer and Assassin are all roles