[holefillers1Participant]

 OKC has done a fantastic job of using their bigs to pick up curry at the 3pt line. The length of Adams and Ibaka are forcing Steph to take low percentage 3’s and the Thunder are doing a great job of switching on D. They are funneling Curry into the lane and waiting for him at the rim. He has to get all the way to the rim before he can make a play, if he decides to kick it out to a shooter then it’s an extra long pass. Awesome Defense. 

[Hype Machine]

OKC is definitely winning the war of physicality. First to loose balls and rebounds. Quicker out in transition. And the refs are "letting them play", which suits OKC. 

OKC is shutting down all of Golden States backup weapons too. Barnes, Iggy, Bogut, Green….All terrible. 

I think Golden State is tired, beaten up and ready to concede defeat to a fresher, more physical team. I believe OKC took the Draymond Green non-suspension personally. Like it pissed them off, and now they want to lay the smackdown even more. 

I cant help but feel that 73 win season took a lot of juice out of them. Some of them look like they sure could have taken some more rest throughout the season. Plus the emotional rollercoaster of that achievement could have sapped them mentally.

Hard to say…but only one team has shown up to the WCF with the intensity that you would expect considering what is at stake.

When talent is probably equal, and both teams have learned each others systems, it comes down to who has the most energy and intensity. Thus far it hasn’t even been close. 

[CU.LIONSParticipant]

I am not sure why you got some neg votes, I agree with everything you said. I also believe OKC just happens to be playing great ball right now and especially on defense. The fact that they beat SA and are up 3-1 on GS means that OKC are for real. Give Billy Donavan some credit as well. OKC is playing better and tougher now than I can remember. And Westbrook is playing like a man possessed. Well he always does I guess, but even more so now.

[Hype Machine]

I’ve deserved my fair share of negs with airball comments on this forum, but even Golden State bandwagon fans can see that their team is cooked. If it wasn’t for a Klay Thompson outburst in the 3rd quarter, this could have been another 30pt drubbing. 

You just know Westbrook thinks hes better than Steph Curry. It reminds me a lot of when David Robinson got the MVP award, and then Hakeem schooled him in the playoffs because he thought it was his. 

I got OKC winning game 5 in Golden State. 

[CU.LIONSParticipant]

Once again I agree with everything you said, but this time one difference, OKC won’t win in game 5 at GS. I do expect GS to play much better at home and I do believe the “League” wants to see this series extended. So if some “tough” calls do favor GS, don’t be surprised

[CU.LIONSParticipant]

Once again I agree with everything you said, but this time one difference, OKC won’t win in game 5 at GS. I do expect GS to play much better at home and I do believe the “League” wants to see this series extended. So if some “tough” calls do favor GS, don’t be surprised

[Hype Machine]

I’ve deserved my fair share of negs with airball comments on this forum, but even Golden State bandwagon fans can see that their team is cooked. If it wasn’t for a Klay Thompson outburst in the 3rd quarter, this could have been another 30pt drubbing. 

You just know Westbrook thinks hes better than Steph Curry. It reminds me a lot of when David Robinson got the MVP award, and then Hakeem schooled him in the playoffs because he thought it was his. 

I got OKC winning game 5 in Golden State. 

[CU.LIONSParticipant]

I am not sure why you got some neg votes, I agree with everything you said. I also believe OKC just happens to be playing great ball right now and especially on defense. The fact that they beat SA and are up 3-1 on GS means that OKC are for real. Give Billy Donavan some credit as well. OKC is playing better and tougher now than I can remember. And Westbrook is playing like a man possessed. Well he always does I guess, but even more so now.

[Hype Machine]

OKC is definitely winning the war of physicality. First to loose balls and rebounds. Quicker out in transition. And the refs are "letting them play", which suits OKC. 

OKC is shutting down all of Golden States backup weapons too. Barnes, Iggy, Bogut, Green….All terrible. 

I think Golden State is tired, beaten up and ready to concede defeat to a fresher, more physical team. I believe OKC took the Draymond Green non-suspension personally. Like it pissed them off, and now they want to lay the smackdown even more. 

I cant help but feel that 73 win season took a lot of juice out of them. Some of them look like they sure could have taken some more rest throughout the season. Plus the emotional rollercoaster of that achievement could have sapped them mentally.

Hard to say…but only one team has shown up to the WCF with the intensity that you would expect considering what is at stake.

When talent is probably equal, and both teams have learned each others systems, it comes down to who has the most energy and intensity. Thus far it hasn’t even been close. 

[Arc12345Participant]

When the refs take away GS blatant moving screens, Curry doesn’t seem so unstoppable anymore…kind of hard to keep hitting all of those fancy pull up jumpers when they’re contested well. Also hard to finish in the paint against true bigs.

Thunder have been tremendously physical (for today’s NBA anyway)  off the ball too. They actually keep him on their hip LIKE EVERYONE SHOULD.

Everyone hated on Westbrook when he called Curry a shooter, but at the end of the day, that’s what he is. Take away his open looks off screens, force him to hit tough pull ups and finish at the rim, and you have a 6’3 skinny guard that is very guard able. Obviously he’s still going to make some shots…but it’s been rough these past games.

[Arc12345Participant]

When the refs take away GS blatant moving screens, Curry doesn’t seem so unstoppable anymore…kind of hard to keep hitting all of those fancy pull up jumpers when they’re contested well. Also hard to finish in the paint against true bigs.

Thunder have been tremendously physical (for today’s NBA anyway)  off the ball too. They actually keep him on their hip LIKE EVERYONE SHOULD.

Everyone hated on Westbrook when he called Curry a shooter, but at the end of the day, that’s what he is. Take away his open looks off screens, force him to hit tough pull ups and finish at the rim, and you have a 6’3 skinny guard that is very guard able. Obviously he’s still going to make some shots…but it’s been rough these past games.

[stealsgaloreParticipant]

There’s a great clip of a play where Foye starts on Curry and Curry tries to run off about 3 different picks and gets held every single time he goes by a Thunder player. I think the biggest thing they’ve done is been consistently physical. Teams have always bumped and held Curry but not as consistently as this Thunder team. Shooting is all about rhythm and Curry has been able to get absolutely no rhythm in this series. Usually he can get a couple open looks either from 3 or at the rim to get his rhythm but he hasn’t been able to in this series. He missed about 4 or 5 layups that I remember in game 4 that he usually makes because he’s been taken out of his game.

[stealsgaloreParticipant]

There’s a great clip of a play where Foye starts on Curry and Curry tries to run off about 3 different picks and gets held every single time he goes by a Thunder player. I think the biggest thing they’ve done is been consistently physical. Teams have always bumped and held Curry but not as consistently as this Thunder team. Shooting is all about rhythm and Curry has been able to get absolutely no rhythm in this series. Usually he can get a couple open looks either from 3 or at the rim to get his rhythm but he hasn’t been able to in this series. He missed about 4 or 5 layups that I remember in game 4 that he usually makes because he’s been taken out of his game.

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

 I disagree with the notion that Golden State is losing because they are worn out from the regular season. 

Westbrook and Durant played more minutes during the year than anybody from Golden State. Ibaka plays a lot of minutes, Roberson, Adams, Waiters, Kanter, the whole crew stayed pretty healthy and thus played a lot of minutes. 

It’s not that they are fresher. They are just locked in right now. Westbrook has been a maniac and he’s dominated this series. 

It’s a bit of a surprise given how good Golden State has been the last two seasons, but it shouldnt be. OKC has been a contender and on the short list of elite teams for six years now. It’s not like these guys are coming out of nowhere. They are as experienced as it gets and they’ve got the two best players on the floor. 

 

 

 

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

 I disagree with the notion that Golden State is losing because they are worn out from the regular season. 

Westbrook and Durant played more minutes during the year than anybody from Golden State. Ibaka plays a lot of minutes, Roberson, Adams, Waiters, Kanter, the whole crew stayed pretty healthy and thus played a lot of minutes. 

It’s not that they are fresher. They are just locked in right now. Westbrook has been a maniac and he’s dominated this series. 

It’s a bit of a surprise given how good Golden State has been the last two seasons, but it shouldnt be. OKC has been a contender and on the short list of elite teams for six years now. It’s not like these guys are coming out of nowhere. They are as experienced as it gets and they’ve got the two best players on the floor. 

 

 

 

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