NBA Playoffs: 3 keys for Thunder to win series vs. Spurs

Trust Enes Kanter

As has been mentioned already, Enes Kanter hasn’t turned into a great defender. However, he has emerged into someone who plays harder and can get by while making an actual difference, rather than being a total liability and glaring weakness.

He’s holding opponents away from the basket in post-up situations well, he’s an extremely active defensive rebounder, and he’s even rotating and helping in the paint with a little more urgency. With that kind of improvement, he has been trusted with crucial minutes at the end of games in the place of Serge Ibaka and was able to reject Duncan at the rim in the late stages of the fourth quarter of Game 5.

In fact, as hard as you may find it to believe (especially for all those Kanter haters out there), he had game-highs of 13 rebounds and three blocks (!) in Game 5. After tallying those numbers, he leads the Thunder’s entire team with six blocks this series.

Besides his scoring and surprising defensive play in the post, it’s Kanter’s rebounding that has allowed him to help the Thunder control the paint.

He fights through opponents, finds good positioning under the basket and gobbles up offensive rebounds better than most players in the league. He can certainly outmatch guys like Duncan and David West for second chance points.

When Kanter has at least eight rebounds in a game this series, the Thunder have won. And no, that’s obviously not the secret cause for victory. But it is a major factor when he gets minutes, and over the last two contests, he’s received 28 and 30 minute outings to pull in eight and 13 boards, respectively. He’s had eight offensive rebounds in the last two games alone, and whenever he can clear up transition plays or put-back the ball after missed jumpers, he adds a great deal of depth to the Thunder’s offense.

Overall against the Spurs, Kanter is averaging nine points and 7.6 rebounds in his 22.8 minutes a night, giving the Thunder a +30 net rating when he’s on the floor with Steven Adams.

That kind of offensive performance from Kanter is a guarantee, so when you add unexpected rim protection, physical post defense and more effort, Kanter is becoming someone the Thunder can trust at both ends of the floor. Right now at least, he’s earning all the minutes coming his way.

It won’t be easy for OKC to close out this series in Game 6 by any means, as the pressure against such an experienced team mounts. Nevertheless, their stars (besides some iffy turnovers and too many shots at times from Westbrook) are delivering, their young big men are contributing at both ends, and the team’s defense has been better than anyone expected.

They look up for the challenge, and they may just succeed to complete a three-game win streak and close out the series.

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