Warriors force Game 7
The NBA playoffs are here. The games are tighter, the lights are brighter, and the narratives are getting thick. It can be a lot to keep up with but don’t worry we’re here to help. Throughout the NBA postseason, FanSided will be gathering together some of the most talented writers from our network for a daily recap of our favorite stories from the night before.
Welcome to The Rotation.
Klay Thompson brings Warriors back from the dead
John Buhler | @buhler118 | FanSided
The series was over and everybody knew it. Sure, the 73-win Golden State Warriors were well equipped to rattle off three straight against the Oklahoma City Thunder down 3-1 in the 2016 Western Conference Finals, but the obvious length advantage Oklahoma City had over Golden State in this series was ultimately going to play out as its deciding factor.
However, there was one man who didn’t believe in the narrative of David slingshotting Goliath in this best-of-seven playoff series. Warriors All-NBA shooting guard Klay Thompson willed Golden State to an improbable come from behind victory in Game 6 in Oklahoma City on Saturday night, 108-101.
This wasn’t just another good game from Thompson in these Western Conference Finals; it was the best performance of his NBA career. Thompson brought the Warriors back from the deepest depths of certain elimination with one of the best jump shooting displays in NBA history.
Thompson led all players in Game 6 with 41 points on 14-30 shooting. While he was a tad below 50 percent from the field, what Thompson accomplished behind the line was otherworldly. He set an NBA Playoffs record with 11 three-point field goals on 18 attempts.
Without Thompson, Golden State’s potentially historic season would have come to a close on Saturday night. He was unconscious from distance with some of the most ridiculous catch-and-shoot attempts from three one will ever see. He didn’t have to set his feet on some shots or even look at the basket on one occasion; it was simply his night. It was the Klay Thompson Game.
Thompson breathed life back into this Warriors team that had already tapped out. Oklahoma City’s range frustrated Draymond Green, limited Andre Iguodala’s effectiveness, made Harrison Barnes disappear for quarters at a time, and forced Andrew Bogut out of his comfort zone.
The Thunder strangely forced Golden State’s Splash Brothers of Stephen Curry and Thompson to beat them in this best-of-seven series. Curry played well in Games 5 and 6 after a terrible Game 4, but honestly was a front-runner while Thompson did all the heavy lifting. Then again, having to guard Russell Westbrook at any point is a headache for any backcourt defensive player.
What Thompson did on the Chesapeake Energy Center hardwood on Saturday night was respond to the widespread criticism of Golden State not being able to handle adversity well. The team as a whole still needs improvement in that regard, but Thompson asserted himself as the most mature and maybe the most clutch player on the Warriors when it matters the most. The outstanding two-way player that is often overlooked by his flashier backcourt partner shined brighter than anyone on the court Saturday night.
Thompson did the impossible: he made Golden State the favorites to win the 2016 NBA Finals…again. The Warriors still have a shot at claiming the best team ever argument thanks to the best three-point shooting display in NBA Playoff history. Curry is the league MVP, but Thompson is responsible for this championship should the repeat come to fruition.
The Oklahoma City must regroup following a pair of losses to defending champs
James Tillman III | Hoops Habit
Every so often the word choke is used to describe the reason why one team loses to its opponent. One such example took place in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Indiana Pacers s and the New York Knicks.
The Knicks led 105-99 with 18.7 seconds left in regulation and appeared to be on their way to victory. Then, the unthinkable happened.
Reggie Miller scored eight points in the final seconds, leading the Pacers to an improbable 107-105 victory. Miller could be heard calling the Knicks “Choke Artists” as he headed down the tunnel.
Fast forwarding to the present, it is the Oklahoma City Thunder who find themselves in this unenviable role although they’ve had an impressive postseason run. After defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the first round of the playoffs, they followed that up by beating the San Antonio Spurs in six games.
This was no small feat, as the Spurs won a franchise-record 67 games this season, including a 40-1 mark at home. However, despite dropping two of the first three games, the Thunder reeled off three straight victories, including two on the Spurs’ home court.
While the 4-2 series win over the Spurs was impressive, not too many people expected the Thunder to give the Warriors any major problems. Once again, however, the Thunder defied the odds and naysayers by winning three of the first four games of the Western Conference Finals, including two dominant performances in Games 3 and 4, a pair of games they won by an average of 26 points per contest.
At that point, the Thunder resembled a runaway freight train that the defending champions were powerless to stop. As expected, the Warriors were victorious in Game 5 at Oracle Arena, but the Thunder were still in the driver’s seat with a chance to close out the series on their home court.
The Thunder led by 13 points early in the second quarter and they clung to an eight point lead (83-75) heading into the fourth quarter. Despite the raucous crowd cheering on their team, the Warriors refused to go away, as they trimmed the deficit to three points (99-96) with three minutes left to play.
Just like they had done 15 times during the regular season, the Thunder let a fourth-quarter lead turn into a disappointing loss. From that point on, the Warriors outscored the Thunder 12-2 and emerged victorious with a 108-101 victory, forcing a seventh and final game back in Oakland.
Technically, Oklahoma City still has a chance to dethrone the 73-9 Warriors. However, the narrative of the series has taken a dramatic turn from just a few days ago when it seemed like the Thunder were on their way to their first finals appearance since 2012. It wasn’t a matter of if they would win the series, but when.
Now, on the heels of two demoralizing losses, the question is: can they still do the unthinkable, or did they expend too much energy in Game 6? If they are unable to close the deal in Game 7, would it be fair to say the Thunder choked even though they were not expected to win this series when it first began?
In a word: yes.
Return of the Choke-lahoma City Thunder?
Gerald Bourguet | @GeraldBourguet | HoopsHabit
In Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder had their best chance to punch a ticket to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012. Unfortunately for them, the fourth quarter demons that had seemingly been exorcised in the semifinals came creeping back like a halfhearted horror movie sequel.
At that point, the “choke” narrative was too hard to ignore.
Not so long ago, the Thunder had a 3-1 lead in the series over a 73-win Golden State Warriors team that had once seemed unstoppable. Coming off a triumphant six-game victory over the San Antonio Spurs, it appeared as though it was finally time for Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to ascend the NBA throne.
Two games later, the narrative has completely changed. What was once a coming out party for a healthy Thunder squad quickly spiraled into the same old narratives we’ve regurgitated ever since the James Harden trade.
The Thunder don’t have what it takes to win it all. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant can’t play together. KD would be better off leaving OKC in free agency.
Never mind the fact that the Warriors are a historically great team that earned every bit of their wins in Games 5 and 6. Never mind that it took 41 points and an NBA playoff record 11 three-pointers from Klay Thompson to keep the Dubs alive on the road. And never mind that two games ago, everyone was singing the praises of Durant and Westbrook as the NBA saviors to the unsolvable Golden State Warriors problem.
To be fair, Durant and Westbrook were less than stellar over the last two games, particularly in Game 6. Their team was outscored 19-5 over the game’s last five minutes, with the Thunder’s dynamic duo accounting for six turnovers in that crucial stretch.
Durant has shot an abysmal 35.5 percent from the field over the last two games, making just four of his 19 three-pointer attempts. Westbrook has been just as bad, shooting 38.2 percent from the floor and committing 12 turnovers in that same span.
In Game 6, it was ultimately Westbrook and Durant’s failure to execute, take care of the ball, and simply make shots that doomed the Thunder. No one is denying that.
But as much as it might hurt for the Thunder to let this 3-1 series lead slip away, and as painful as it potentially might be to watch the Warriors squander their historic season, ignoring the fact that OKC would not even be in this position without their dynamic duo would be, well, ignorant.
While it’d be disappointing for the Thunder to fall after building a 3-1 series lead that only nine teams in NBA history have ever lost, it’s worth mentioning that when pitted against a 67-win Spurs juggernaut, followed by the 73-win squad that should be unanimous title favorites, they weren’t even supposed to be here at all.
That will do little to console the Thunder faithful if the Warriors win Game 7, and it’ll be especially painful if Kevin Durant takes his talents elsewhere in response to such a brutal playoff finish. But for a team that’s playing with house money and is STILL only a game away from the NBA Finals, now is hardly the time to get nitpicky over three wins against a 73-win juggernaut.
Appreciate the beauty and the curses of the Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook union while you can. Because if the Warriors close out this series in Game 7, and KD listens to all the foolish criticism that’s running rampant on Twitter before making his free agency decision, we’re all going to miss the flash of this Thunder team.
Kevin Durant is facing a new kind of pressure
Tom West | @TomWestNBA | Clipperholics, FanSided
When you think of Kevin Durant, the first thing that comes to mind is unprecedented offensive prowess. He was a four-time scoring champion by the time he was 25, he possesses a more fluid combination of length, ball handling, shooting ability and athleticism than we’ve ever seen in a 6-10 forward, and it’s made him a future Hall of Fame player already.
Yet, through the playoffs (as excellent as Durant has been at times), his offense really hasn’t been so prolific. There have been high scoring games, critical stretches of play against the Spurs, and he’s averaged 28.5 points a night. But the hinderance is the efficiency, which is something Oklahoma City and their fans can’t take for granted. So far in the postseason, Durant’s 42.5 field goal percentage and 27.2 three-point percentage are a distant cry from the averages of 50.5 and 38.6 he achieved in the regular season.
In the last three games against the returning Warriors, Durant has shot a mere 34.9 percent.
In a way, the best element of his performance has reversed as of late. Rather than that unprecedented offense being the guarantee as the main element of his impact, it’s the best defense of his career that has truly impressed. From the increased rim protection to his ability to cover Stephen Curry at the perimeter, he’s been channeling his length and athleticism with a new kind of defensive intensity we haven’t seen before.
And yet again in Game 6, a seemingly defeated Thunder demon reared its ugly head again. Rather than frighteningly organized team defense, balanced offense and composure, Thunder endured the kind of fourth quarter breakdown we thought they’d left behind. After entering the final 12 minutes with an eight-point lead, panic took over, with Durant (1-of-7, two turnovers in the fourth) and Westbrook’s (2-of-7, four turnovers) breakdowns leading the fall.
Every common critique that you’ll have heard about the Thunder during the regular season was applicable on Saturday night to the pain, panic, and surprise of everyone in Oklahoma City. After this team reached their highest peak yet, a collapse resulting in waves of Durant/Westbrook isolation plays, zero fourth quarter assists and no points due to four turnovers in the final two minutes left everyone speechless.
They’re the problems we’ve come to expect from OKC in the past, but it’s not what most saw coming after two resounding wins in Games 3 and 4.
Durant was majorly at fault. He shot 10-of-31 for the game and had that 1-of-7, two-turnover stretch in the fourth quarter. Rather than trusting his teammates and taking wise shots as he often does, he opted for hero ball instead on far too many possessions, rushing threes off screens and forcing bad shots and passes out of double teams.
It goes without saying that the only way the Thunder can win Game 7 is by Durant and Westbrook shooting effectively. They clung to a 17-of-51 shooting performance by the duo to win Game 1, largely thanks to their defense and the wavering focus of the Warriors, but that won’t be able to repeat itself when so much is on the line.
Durant’s defense is still here. We’re just at the point where that killer offensive instinct needs to come in the form of intelligent, team-based play, rather than frustrated hero ball.
“On the offensive end, you don’t have to worry about me because I’m a professional scorer,” Durant said after practice on Sunday, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “And I know how I’ve been doing this for so long. I’m not saying I’m going to have a great game every night or I’m going to shoot well every night, but I tend to figure things out on the offensive end.”
If there’s anyone who can turn around and explode instantaneously it’s Durant, but there’s no room for error now. He has no choice but to figure things out and play calmly at both ends of the floor in arguably the biggest game of his career; his season and a chapter of his legacy are on the line in Oakland.
Success creates its own questions for the Cavaliers
Adam McGee | @AdamMcGee11 | Behind The Buck Pass
Closing out their road to the Finals with a game that was dominated by endless video reviews early on seemed somewhat fitting for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Although the contact was incidental, Bismack Biyombo drew a flagrant foul towards the end of the first quarter as the sharp edge of his elbow caught Kevin Love square in the jaw as he pivoted towards the rim. The second period then started out as Jonas Valanciunas’ elbow accidentally trailed into Richard Jefferson’s chest, causing the Cavs veteran’s emotions to run high.
Both of those plays resulted in lengthy reviews from the officials, yet in spite of the choppy tempo of the game, Cleveland built a steady lead in the midst of the stoppages. Much like the home crowd, if these moments should have played against the Cavs, they ultimately had zero impact. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals felt drawn out, as has much of Cleveland’s playoff run.
Having finished up every one of their series a number of days before their upcoming opponent has managed to clinch, the most persistent storyline of the Cavaliers post-season run has been the rest versus rust debate. Considering Cleveland has only dropped two of their 14 games and won the opening two games of all three of their series in the playoffs so far, it seems like a good time to put that discussion to bed.
The much more pressing questions should come in response to how the team has reached this point. In contrast to whichever opponent emerges from the West, bloodied, bruised and battle-hardened, the Cavs have cruised through, dropping what proved to be no more than two token games in Toronto.
The Cavaliers could be the league’s best team since the regular season ended, yet it’s almost harder to recognize them as such due to the ease with which they’ve progressed. The Pistons caused Cleveland more problems than most in the regular season, but were comfortably swept aside in round one. Atlanta put together a stronger showing than they did in last year’s Eastern Finals, but were still dismantled thanks to an incredible stretch of shooting from the Cavs.
Is the East that bad, or are the Cavaliers this good? If they are, is there a danger that they’ve peaked too soon? If Cleveland’s players didn’t have the relevant prior experience to draw on, it would be a cause for concern. This team feels a little different though.
The fact that the players could relax enough for LeBron James to fully appreciate and embrace the noise that was created by Toronto’s faithful supporters speaks volumes of Cleveland’s journey up until this point. Regardless of which team prevails in the West, the Cavs are certainly going to feel a dramatic change of pace for their championship pursuit in the coming days. If they are who they say they are, they’ll take it in stride.
Earning your stripes
Ian Levy | @HickoryHigh | FanSided
The Toronto Raptors have gone gentle into that good night — eliminated in an ugly 113-87 Game 6 loss. Toronto did take two games from the Cavaliers but their four losses were by a combined 114 points. When they were off, they were WAY off.
There is a certain NBA mythology which reads that every championship contender must first earn their stripes with soul-crushing playoff losses. Elite team basketball comes from suffering and the lessons gleaned from repeated failure. If that holds true, then surely the Raptors are destined for greatness. Their karmic stockpile from playoff catastrophe is enormous, from three seasons in a row of not quite playing up to potential, or failing in ways that seem frustratingly close to breaking their way.
That being said, I’m not sure the Raptors are really prepared to cash in on karma and experience alone next season.
DeMar DeRozan will be fielding offers in free agency this summer and while Toronto would appear to have a very good chance to retain his services, mucho dollars from the Los Angeles Lakers is much more appealing with Kobe out of the picture. Of course, even re-signing DeRozan doesn’t necessarily get Toronto any closer to their ultimate goal. As good as he’s been at finding a path to efficiency without a three-point shot, his offensive limitations and the way those narrow the field of possibilities for his team were on full display this postseason.
Bringing back DeRozan likely means not being able to re-sign Bismack Biyombo who was the breakout star for Toronto in these playoffs. Although Biyombo, like DeRozan, is inherently limiting because of the nature of his skill set.
Where the Raptors ultimately came up short against Cleveland was not big game experience or untested freshness. It was an offense that lacked spacing, and sputtered at key moments. It was a rotation that didn’t feature enough versatility to hold any sort of system integrity and still adjust to matchups. If the Raptors are poised for a breakthrough to real championship contention, addressing those personnel issues this summer will mean much more than the experience of getting eliminated by the Cavaliers.