Fansided

Oklahoma City Thunder: The dynasty that wasn’t

By Andrew Ross

Feb 9, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) and forward Kevin Durant (35) during the game against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 9, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) and forward Kevin Durant (35) during the game against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
Jun15, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs celebrate with the Larry O'Brien trophy after defeating the Miami Heat in game five of the 2014 NBA Finals at AT&T Center. The Spurs defeated the Heat 104-87 to win the NBA Finals. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
Jun15, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs celebrate with the Larry O’Brien trophy after defeating the Miami Heat in game five of the 2014 NBA Finals at AT&T Center. The Spurs defeated the Heat 104-87 to win the NBA Finals. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports /

Sorry, the Spurs won’t be denied

It seems easy to make some sort of excuse for the Thunder for a lot of their woes, but there’s not really any excuses for their 2013-14 season. They did their usual thing in the regular season: won 59 games and Durant even took home the regular season MVP. Oklahoma City got through the first two round of the playoffs to get to the conference finals for the first time in two years. Things finally seemed to be in place for them again and they were about to push aside an over-the-hill San Antonio team that was merely in their way of a title.

Boy was that last part wrong.

Everyone knows of the Spurs’ heartbreaking seven-game Finals loss to the Heat the year prior, and they milked every ounce of motivation from that series. The wanted Miami again, and nobody was going to stop them. They beat the Thunder in six games, and there really wasn’t anything Oklahoma City could have done to stop that train. They need their two stars to go big in the playoffs, and they did absolutely that. During that 19-game postseason run, Durant averaged 29.6 points (46 percent shooting), 8.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and Westbrook averaged 26.7 points (42 percent shooting), 8.1 assists and 7.3 rebounds. Those are dynamite numbers from two teammates and it’s clear they gave it their all.

It would have been one that had the Spurs rolled over in the Finals, but the opposite of that happened. San Antonio manhandled Miami in five games. Oklahoma City was just an obstacle for the Spurs that year – they were on a mission. It’s hard to complain much about that.

Next: Kevin Durant gets hurt

Home/NBA