Shved made 6-of-11 threes in the game after struggling with his shot for most of the Olympics and also had seven assists and five boards. Kirilenko made 8-of-12 shots in the game to go with eight rebounds and two blocks.

Shved and Kirilenko will both be coming to the NBA next season to play with the Minnesota Timberwolves and did a great job here in London leading their team to the bronze medal.

Argentina’s loss here signifies the end of an era. Argentina was the one team that challenged the United States more than anyone in basketball and even won the gold medal back in 2004.

This will surely be the last Olympics for veterans Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino. Ginobili scored 21 points and made four threes in the loss. Scola had 11 points and Delfino played the entire game and scored 15.

Andres Nocioni, who also may be playing in his last Olympics for his country, had 16 points.

It wasn’t enough though for Argentina who just wasn’t quite what they once were in these Olympics. They made 13-of-33 threes in the game but didn’t do enough on defense as Russia shot 50.9 percent for the game.

Vitaliy Fridzon came off the bench and was huge for Russia scoring 19 points. Fridzon was also instrumental earlier in the Olympics with 24 points off the bench when Russia upset Spain in pool play.

Russia’s win here caps off an impressive run for them in the Olympics. Led by head coach David Blatt Russia looks like a country that will be around the top of international basketball play for years to come.

Argentina will have to reload but it’s hard to see where that talent will be coming from.

The United States and Spain will play in the gold medal game at 10 a.m. EST on NBC this morning.

Team USA led 47-40 at halftime after Manu Ginobili hit a three to end the first half. Ginobili came out strong from the start but slowed down late, finishing with 18 points in the game.

The U.S. shot 53.1 percent from the field and made 18-of-42 threes. They pulled away from Argentina again much like their last meeting with a big third quarter led by LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

Spain beat Russia in their semifinal earlier today and hasn’t looked great so far in these Olympics but still should be considered the toughest test yet for Team USA.

Here are grades for the U.S. players:

LeBron James – 29 minutes, 18 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds – A

LeBron played another brilliant game doing a little bit of everything. Coming off the first triple-double in U.S. Olympic history in the quarterfinals vs. Australia, LeBron flirted with another one today. He went 8-of-12 from the field and was excellent finding open shooters all game long.

Kevin Durant – 27 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks – B+

Durant led the U.S. in scoring thanks to his five 3-pointers, four of which came in the third quarter. Durant was better again with his interior defense and picked up a few blocks. He really didn’t look to be shooting well early in the game before getting a few to go down in a row in the third.

Carmelo Anthony – 22 minutes, 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists – B+

It was Anthony’s turn to put on the 3-point show in the second half of this game. He hit a few in a row and then a really deep one reminiscent of Durant’s the last time Team USA played Argentina. He made a few nice extra passes that he normally doesn’t which resulted in a little more balanced of a game in this one.

Kobe Bryant – 19 minutes, 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals – B+

Kobe did his work at the beginning of this game after doing it in the second half of the last one. He came out hot making three 3-pointers in the first half and was pretty quiet after that. You know Kobe is going to take shots no matter what. He’s good when they’re going down but has been terrible when they’re not.

Chris Paul – 26 minutes, 10 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds – A

Paul just plays so good every game. He went 2-of-3 from deep and that’s just gravy with him. He had a pretty high assist total too as he always makes the smart play.

Deron Williams – 20 minutes, 6 points, 6 assists – B

Williams only shot 2-of-7 from deep which puts him well below Team USA’s average shooting percentage on threes. Coach K tried to use him more as Argentina played a lot of zone and Williams didn’t do anything special. The six assists were nice though.

Russell Westbrook – 9 minutes, 7 points, 1 turnover – B

Westbrook played with good energy again and was a little more under control in this one. All three of his baskets were nice. The first came on a good drive in the first half. Then he hit a three in the second half and got one of his patented pull-up jumpers to go down too. He came up lame with what appeared to be a leg injury late in the fourth. It didn’t look too serious and for a guy who has never missed a basketball game in his life, it’s hard to get worried.

Kevin Love – 16 minutes, 9 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block – A

Love was very big today especially with his work on the glass getting four offensive rebounds. As Team USA continued to shoot the three when seeing zone, Love was there to help get them second shot opportunities whenever he was in. He was 0-for-2 shooting the three himself but his impact was hard not to notice.

Tyson Chandler – 12 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds – B

Chandler didn’t play much again but did just fine while he was out there. He had a nice slam in the second half from a Paul feed and was his usual solid self on defense. Picked up three fouls though.

Andre Iguodala – 11 minutes, 2 points, 1 assist – B

Iguodala found out last night he was being traded to the Denver Nuggets so maybe he felt a little weird for the game. He played fine while he was out there though and had a nice highlight reel alley-oop finish from Paul late in the game.

James Harden – 5 minutes, 3 points, 1 steal – B

I could have sworn Harden hit two threes in this game. One of them rolled around the rim some and may have been credited to Love for a tip-in. His shot looked good and he even had a nice block in transition from behind on a player.

Anthony Davis – 4 minutes, 1 rebound – C

Just very little garbage time for Davis again and he didn’t touch the ball.

The U.S. most recently beat Argentina 119-86 in the final game of pool play. In that game, Team USA led just 60-59 at halftime before putting together an incredible third quarter as they pulled away for the blowout win.

Argentina is still fully capable of beating the U.S. though. Argentina got past Brazil 82-77 in the quarterfinal behind 17 points from Luis Scola and 16 from Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino.

Those three players will have to be big again against the U.S. if Argentina has plans to upset Team USA. Ginobili led Argentina with 16 points the last time they played the U.S. with 14 of those points coming in the first half.

Scola played just 18 minutes vs. the U.S. in that game and had 11 points. Delfino had 13 and was 2-of-7 shooting from three while Andres Nocioni had 12 and made 2-of-4 threes.

Argentina went 10-for-26 from three in that game and will have to do better today. The U.S. led by Kevin Durant’s eight threes, hit 20-of-39 in that game.

The case can be made that Argentina wouldn’t have benefitted from beating Team USA on that day and, as international teams often think, would rather save themselves to try and beat the U.S. in the game that matters today.

We can expect a spirited effort from Argentina in this one as they should play more of a complete game, unless the U.S. goes into that unbeatable mode they’ve shown a few times in these Olympics.

The game should be a chippy one as well. Argentina always seems to get under the skin of the U.S. and did again in the last game in particular when Facundo Campazzo gave Carmelo Anthony a little tap below the belt on his way down after shooting a three to end the third quarter.

Pablo Prigioni, Argentina’s starting point guard, did not play in the last game vs. Team USA either and will surely make a big difference for them today. Prigioni was instrumental in Argentina’s win over Brazil leading the team with six assists.

Durant emerged as the unfair player to contend with for Argentina in the last game scoring 28 points and making eight threes. We have seen multiple players step up in that role for the U.S. in these Olympics, whether it’s Durant, Anthony, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, who made six threes in Team USA’s quarterfinal win over Australia.

Team USA’s reliance on the 3-point shot is one of the things that could lead to their downfall in this tournament. They are attempting 35.7 threes per game and making .449 percent of them but if they fall to a realistic percentage under 40, they could be vulnerable to being upset.

The U.S.’s continued struggling interior defense could also be an issue today, especially dealing with Scola who is averaging 19.7 points per game in the Olympics to lead Argentina. Team USA has been better lately with their defensive intensity and LeBron and Durant have been decent containing other teams’ bigs but Scola will again be a big challenge today.

The U.S. will be favored today and rightfully so. They have shown throughout these Olympics that despite some of their flaws, they are talented enough to beat anyone at any time. Their familiarity with Argentina should benefit the U.S. too as the element of surprise in a 40-minute game can sometimes be a big factor contributing to an upset.

The other semifinal game today will be between Russia and Spain at noon EST.

Leandro Barbosa made a 3-pointer with 1:46 remaining to cut Argentina’s lead to just three. Brazil had nothing else left in the tank though as Argentina made their free throws down the stretch and a few desperation threes did not fall.

Barbosa scored 22 points for Brazil and made four 3-pointers. Point guard Marcelinho Huertas came out firing for Brazil as well notching 22 points to go with four assists.

Luis Scola continued his strong play for Argentina leading them with 17 points. Carlos Delfino was on the mark with his jumper making three 3-pointers and totaling 16 points.

The game was controlled by the point guards and while Huertas finished with more points, Argentina’s Pablo Prigioni played big minutes for Argentina and led them with six assists. Prigioni did not play in Argentina’s last game when they lost to Team USA.

The game was close in almost every facet but where Brazil came up short was in taking advantage of their size. Nene had seven points and 12 rebounds, Tiago Splitter had just six points and Anderson Varejao four.

Brazil also shot only 50 percent from the free throw line and was outrebounded by Argentina.

Argentina advances to the semifinal round and will await the winner of the United States and Australia quarterfinal matchup today.

Team USA is heavily favored to win and if they do, will play Argentina for the third time in the past few weeks. The U.S. beat Argentina by six in an exhibition game before the Olympics then ran away in their last game of pool play vs. Argentina.

The winner of Argentina-Brazil will go on to play the winner of USA-Australia in the semifinal round on Friday.

Brazil is the 2-seed from Pool B and Argentina the 3-seed from Pool A in this matchup. Brazil lost to Russia in pool play then beat Spain in the final game of pool play in a game that no one wanted to win.

Argentina was upset by France early in pool play and then lost their final game of pool play vs. the U.S.

Each of these two South American teams has a large cast of NBA talent on their rosters. Argentina is led by Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino and Brazil Nene, Anderson Varejao and Leandro Barbosa.

Argentina has had more success in international play in the past, winning the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics and beating the United States in the process. Brazil is yet to have that kind of success but this may be their year as they are as talented as ever.

Both teams play a similar style reliant on the pick-and-roll game to get most of their offense. Brazil’s point guard Marcelinho Huertas is a magician in the pick-and-roll and combined with Brazil’s size advantage should have a nice game today.

Brazil will have trouble matching up with Ginobili and Argentina is the better outside shooting team, which they will need to rely on to win this one.

Scola has been a monster in the Olympics so far averaging 20.2 points per game to lead Argentina and he will need to be big vs. Brazil. Brazil has the bodies to contend with Scola but he is good enough to get them in some foul trouble and still have a big game.

If Argentina can get hot from deep it will open up the lane some where they can hurt Brazil with their great interior passing and Scola’s ability to finish with crafty shots in the paint.

Brazil would also like to shoot well from three and Barbosa is the most likely man to do it. He is shooting just .348 percent from three so far in the Olympics but is capable of a much better night at any time.

This game will be as good as any we’ve seen in the Olympics so far. It’s a rivalry with two teams who are playing pretty good basketball right now.

The edge in experience may go to Argentina but Brazil is more than capable of winning this one and it should go down to the wire.

The U.S. led by just one at halftime 60-59 as Argentina was doing a lot of what Lithuania did to the U.S. in the first half.

Manu Ginobili was on a tear scoring 16 points on just five shots as Argentina shot 56 percent from the field.

In the third quarter, Team USA came out a different team especially on the defensive side of the ball. LeBron James had a look in his eye scoring nine quick points then Kevin Durant took over.

Durant hit five threes in the third quarter and scored 17 points as the U.S. outscored Argentina 42-17 as a team. Durant capped off his memorable third quarter performance with a three from about 32-feet that was very reminiscent of Rucker Park.

Team USA again looked vulnerable at times but when they turned it on in the second half they showed why they are the team to beat in these Olympics.

Here are the grades:

LeBron James – 21 minutes, 18 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds – A

LeBron was quiet in the first half as not a lot of the offense was running through him but he really asserted himself in the third quarter. He has taken over when he has needed to for this team in these Olympics and did it again today. He had to sit though midway through the third after picking up his fourth foul. He got called on a few really bad fouls in the game.

Kevin Durant – 22 minutes, 28 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals – A

Durant was magnificent in the third quarter not only by hitting five treys but on the defensive end he was as active as he ever has been. That led to a lot of Team USA’s offense as they pulled away. Durant wasn’t too bad in the first half either scoring 11 points and hitting three 3-pointers. Durant’s shooting performance in the third quarter may have been more impressive than what Carmelo Anthony did vs. Nigeria.

Carmelo Anthony – 13 minutes, 5 points, 5 rebounds – C

Anthony didn’t have it tonight going just 1-for-6 from the field but his one make was a big three to end the third. He got a little cheap shot from Argentina point guard Campazzo after making the trey he was hit below the belt and it started a little scrum between the two teams.

Kobe Bryant – 21 minutes, 11 points, 1 assist – C-

Kobe just seems to not fit in much with this team. He randomly started pushing the ball down the court out of control twice in the third quarter and it just felt weird. He shot 3-of-10 in the game and is still struggling with the different ball it seems. The fact that he’s probably going to be on the court in crunch time of a close game may not be a good thing for Team USA going forward.

Chris Paul – 25 minutes, 17 points, 6 assists, 3 steals – A

Paul was great in the first half hitting four threes and did his job pretty much perfectly the rest of the game too. You can’t hardly ever complain about Paul and when he is making threes he is just that much better. He really hounded Campazzo on defense too who had to play most of the game with Prigionni missing the game with an injury.

Deron Williams – 15 minutes, 5 points, 3 assists – C

Nothing special from Williams tonight as he was 2-for-7 from the field. Paul played much better and got the bulk of the minutes. Team USA will need Williams to step up and shoot better from three as the games continue.

Russell Westbrook – 19 minutes, 4 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds – B-

He would receive a C grade if not for his nasty dunk in the fourth quarter. Westbrook was out of control for the most part again going 1-for-8 from the field but his dunk was such a perfect exclamation mark on the game. His defense against Argentina’s weak guards was pretty good too.

Kevin Love – 15 minutes, 13 points, 9 rebounds – B+

Love quietly had a very nice game for Team USA going 5-for-7 from the field and grabbing four offensive boards as well. His confidence has grown of late and he is becoming a more integral part of this team which is good with Tyson Chandler not playing all that well.

Tyson Chandler – 12 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds – B

Chandler wasn’t as bad as he has been lately in this one and was the only real defensive presence for Team USA in the first half. The defense Team USA played in the second half showed why they won’t need to rely on Chandler to play a lot of minutes in the future. Chandler was in foul trouble again though and mostly takes up space on offense.

Andre Iguodala – 20 minutes, 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists – A

Iguodala played his role perfectly today. He got some scoring on not a lot of shots, always made the right pass and rebounded. When he plays like this he will get minutes and deservedly so.

James Harden – 9 minutes, 7 points – C+

Harden didn’t play until garbage time in this one and was fine while he was out there. He hit 1-of-2 threes and went 3-for-5 from the field.

Anthony Davis – 8 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block – C+

Davis also didn’t play until garbage time and had less alley-oop dunks than usual.

The U.S. is undefeated at 4-0 in pool play after most recently beating Lithuania 99-94 in what was a very closely contested game.

Argentina was the favorite to come out of Pool A as the two seed but unexpectedly lost to France a few days back and is now more than likely going to come out as the three seed, unless they are able to upset the United States today.

Argentina will serve as the toughest test yet for Team USA. They are very experienced and feature some of the best international talent in these Olympics with Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino.

Ginobili has been playing at a very high level for Argentina in pool play averaging 21.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. Ginobili is a tough cover for anyone including the U.S. and he will have to have a big all-around game for Argentina to pull off the upset.

Scola is leading the team in scoring at 22.5 points per game and will have a nice matchup vs. Team USA. Scola essentially starts at center for Argentina and the slower Tyson Chandler will have a lot of trouble covering him off the dribble.

Scola will see a lot of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony too, all of which have struggled somewhat with their interior defense in the Olympics.

Team USA’s close win vs. Lithuania will serve as a wakeup call for the team, mostly on the defensive end of the floor. Lithuania got a lot of easy looks at the rim vs. the United States and shot 58.5 percent from the field for the game.

Lithuania executed their offense very nicely and was not intimidated at all playing Team USA. Argentina will present a similar challenge to Team USA except with more talent.

Playing small lineups finally caught up with the United States vs. Lithuania as LeBron, Durant and Anthony, who are less experienced playing defense down low, were exposed.

Team USA, who was coming off a record-setting game vs. Nigeria in which they made 29 3-pointers, was trigger-happy from downtown again vs. Lithuania but did not have the same success. They made just 10-of-33 threes and struggled from the free throw line as well making just 19-of-31 shots.

LeBron was the one who stepped up at the end of the game and saved the day for the U.S. vs. Lithuania. He scored nine of their last 12 points and finished with 20 in the game. The United States will need more than just a late push by LeBron to keep winning in these Olympics.

Durant has turned into more of just a spot-up shooter of late for Team USA and will be needed to do a lot more for them to get past tough tests such as Argentina. He scored 16 vs. Lithuania but may be needed to get up over 20 in a close game today.

If Argentina wins, there will be a tie atop Pool A with Argentina, Team USA and France. Team USA could end up finishing second in the pool via the tiebreaker if they lose.

We can expect a better effort from Team USA on defense today and that really should be enough for them to get by Argentina. It will be another close game though and we have seen why the United States are a team that is beatable.

Here is a look at the games from yesterday:

Russia 73, China 54

The Russians have been impressive so far and are now 2-0 in pool play. Andrei Kirirlenko was a monster in their first game and good again against China scoring 16 points to go with nine rebounds. Alexey Shved had another good game as well with 14 points and six assists. Yi Jianlian who scored 30 points against Spain on Sunday was held to just 16 against Russia. Russia is looking like they might be the biggest threat to Spain in Pool B.

Spain 82, Australia 70

The final score was closer than the game actually was as Spain led by 21 after three quarters. Spain played without their captain Juan Carlos Navarro who has a case of plantar fasciitis but it did not matter. Pau Gasol led the way with 20 points and Rudy Fernandez scored 17 points and made four threes. Serge Ibaka scored eight points off the bench in 17 minutes. Patty Mills had 11 points for Australia but again struggled from the field going 5-for-16. Spain is a little banged up but it still looks like they should win every game in pool play.

Nigeria 53, Lithuania 72

Nigeria got what probably will be their only win of the Olympics against Tunisia on Sunday. They really struggled against Lithuania shooting 24.2 percent from the field and making just 1-of-16 threes. Lithuania was led by Darius Songaila off the bench with 12 points and Linas Kleiza who scored 11 points. The Lithuanians were disappointing on Sunday when they lost to Argentina by so much but could still make some noise in this tournament as they are capable of beating anyone except maybe the U.S.

Brazil 67, Great Britain 62

The host country gave a great effort in this one led by Luol Deng who played the entire game and scored 12 points to go with seven assists and eight rebounds. It wasn’t enough though as the Brazilians got a great game from Tiago Splitter who scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Marcelinho Huertas played well again for Brazil scoring 13 points to go with eight assists. Great Britain stayed in this game largely due to Brazil struggling from three making just 3-of-22 treys. Brazil and Russia should battle it out for the No. 2 spot in Pool B behind Spain.

Argentina 64, France 71

Argentina looked amazing in their opening game against Lithuania while France was blown out by the U.S. in theirs. France pulled off the upset in this one though led by Tony Parker who had 17 points and five assists. Nando De Colo and Mickael Gelabale both came up big for France as each made three 3-pointers. Manu Ginobili led Argentina with 26 points and Luis Scola had 16. Carlos Delfino who was so great from beyond the arc against Lithuania went very cold vs. France going 0-for-5 on threes and 1-for-8 from the field overall. Argentina still has a chance for the No. 2 seed in Pool A if Lithuania can take down France or if the Argentines upset the U.S.

United States 110, Tunisia 63

This was quite the cakewalk for the U.S. Tunisia is the only team in the field without an NBA player and it showed although they hung around early. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski played the U.S. bench a lot of minutes in this one and they played very well. Kevin Durant scored 13 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists. Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love led the U.S. with 16 points apiece. The U.S. will not be challenged in their next game either as they will play Nigeria. Tunisia likely will not win a game in these Olympics.

Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

USA Basketball has finished its exhibition play in preparation for the London Olympics which will begin Friday, July 27. Team USA went 5-0 in their exhibition games beating the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Great Britain, Argentina and Spain.

Team USA will be in Pool A in the Olympics along with Argentina, France, Lithuania, Nigeria and Tunisia. The United States is the favorite to win gold in London but it won’t be a cakewalk.

“All I’m concerned about is how we’re going to get better,” Kevin Durant said when asked who was the favorite in the Olympics. “How we’re going to approach these Games, that’s all I’m worried about. We’ll see what happens at the end.”

The team has been modest at times but also knows there is only one acceptable outcome for them.

The United States will play each team in their pool once before the medal round begins. The top four teams from each pool after the round robin will advance to an 8-team tournament.

Pool B is considered the better all-around pool but there will be some competition in Pool A for Team USA. Here is a preview of each team in the pool:

United States

Team USA is ranked first in the world and rightfully so. They won gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics then won the World Championships two years later. LeBron James has averaged 18.6 points per game to lead the team in its five exhibition games while Durant is averaging 17.6 points per game and went 16-for-29 from beyond the shorter 3-point line.

The weakness for the United States is no secret. They aren’t a big team and have played LeBron, Durant and Carmelo Anthony a lot at the four and five positions. Some teams will have a pretty decent advantage against them inside but it shouldn’t be enough to take them down.

France

France is always a team you expect to be a little better because they have quite a few NBA players. Unfortunately for them they will be without Joakim Noah who would have been huge for them. Tony Parker is playing some of the best basketball of his life though and will be a tough cover for anyone. They also have a few decent athletes at the wing positions led by Nicolas Batum to try and match up with the U.S. Boris Diaw is coming off a great year for the Spurs and has a game made for the international style. Spurs fans will also get a look at Nando De Colo who will be joining the team next year.

France should advance to the medal round and is one of the few teams with a chance to upset the United States but it is pretty unlikely.

Argentina

This is not the same Argentina team that won a gold medal in 2004 and beat the United States. Actually, it pretty much is and that’s the problem. They’ve gotten older and aren’t the heavyweight they used to be. They’re still led by Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino who can all fill it up on any given night, just not as consistently as they used to.

Argentina and France will battle it out for the second seed in Pool A, a spot each will really want to get because then they would avoid the United States until a potential gold medal game.

Lithuania

Lithuania is a small country that absolutely loves hoops and produces some fine NBA-caliber talent. They’ve had some success in the past and have the potential to come out of Pool A as possibly the 2-seed. They have NBA talent in Sarunas Jasikevicius, Linas Kleiza, Darius Songaila and Jonas Valanciunas. They have a lot of size too and could give the U.S. a very good game.

This Lithuania team is the kind that would have probably beaten Team USA in 2004 but this year it should be a different story. Raptors fans will love getting their first look at their 2011 first round lottery pick, Valanciunas.

Nigeria

Nigeria was the last team to qualify for the Olympics making a pretty improbable run to get in. They are led by two NBA talents in Al-Farouq Aminu and Ike Diogu. This is another team with a lot of size but simply not enough talent to be taken seriously. They have an outside chance of advancing to the medal round as the 4-seed but it is pretty unlikely.

Tunisia

Tunisia qualified for the Olympics by winning the African tournament. They aren’t to be feared by anyone though. They are the new Angola and should get blown out in every game in this pool aside from Nigeria.

Tomorrow we will have a preview of Pool B.

Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

USA Basketball improved to 4-0 in exhibition play beating Argentina 86-80 Sunday afternoon in Barcelona, Spain.

Kevin Durant led the United States with 27 points and made seven 3-pointers in the game including a dagger with 2:40 left to put the U.S. up 81-74.

Manu Ginobili came right back down with a driving layup after that. Ginobili led Argentina with 23 points in the game.

Chris Paul dribbled down the clock on the next possession then hit another three for the United States sealing the deal on an Argentina team that refused to go away.

The U.S. got out to a huge lead early jumping ahead 16-1 to start the game behind some hot shooting from Durant and Kobe Bryant. Durant made four of his seven threes in the first quarter and Kobe also hit a pair.

Team USA perhaps fell in love with the three a little too much (13-for-34 in the game) allowing Argentina to get back into the game but the end result was never really in question. Team USA has too many options to allow a team to come back on them.

The United States backcourt pressure prowess was less of a factor against a pretty talented Argentina squad that featured some NBA talent in their backcourt. Argentina wasn’t talented enough with their bigs though to really exploit the United States’ lack of size.

Luis Scola scored 14 points for Argentina and Team USA had little trouble containing him although the pesky Scola did get into a little altercation bumping chests with Durant while LeBron James separated the two.

Frustration was high for Scola and Argentina who was playing in just their second exhibition game so far, previously getting blown out by Spain by 20 points a few days ago.

The game was tight enough though that James Harden and Anthony Davis did not play at all for the United States.

Argentina has a history of performing well against the United States in international hoops but that is just history now. This is not the best Argentina team of all-time and they’re not on the same level as Team USA.

Argentina will be in the same pool as Team USA when the Olympics start and is considered their biggest competition in the group.

Team USA will play Spain in their fifth and final exhibition game before the Olympics start Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. EST on ESPN2. Spain is without question Team USA’s biggest obstacle in winning Gold and the game should be as competitive as any we have seen yet for the United States.

Joe Toth-US PRESSWIRE

Team USA Basketball will play its fourth exhibition game today at 3:30 p.m. EST vs. Argentina in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics.

The United States are 3-0 so far in exhibition games beating the Dominican Republic, Brazil and most recently Great Britain.

Argentina will certainly be the bigger test of the bunch so far as they are ranked 3rd in the world by FIBA behind only the United States and Spain. Argentina won Gold in the 2004 Olympics and then Bronze in the 2008 Olympics.

Argentina is led by a familiar cast of NBA players like Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni and Carlos Delfino. While that doesn’t compare to the NBA players on the U.S.’s roster, it will still be tougher than anything Team USA has seen so far.

The United States looked great in their first exhibition game killing the Dominican Republic then they struggled against Brazil winning just 80-69. Brazil had a big time size advantage in the paint and they gave the U.S. trouble.

Argentina is coming off a 105-85 loss to Spain a few days ago in an exhibition of their own. Ginobili scored 19 points in that game and Scola added 18. Spain was led by Pau Gasol who had 17 and Juan Carlos Navarro who had 16.

LeBron James and Kevin Durant will lead Team USA but they have to do it on this team in a somewhat different way than you’d expect. They are both essentially playing out of position at power forward and even center on this roster.

LeBron and Durant are two of the best players in the world and are thus very versatile but we will see them at a disadvantage at times, especially on defense with Team USA. LeBron and Durant have been fine on offense though averaging 17.7 and 16.0 points per game, respectively, to lead the team.

Tyson Chandler is the only big man that has been getting significant run for the U.S. and that has made things difficult for them. Kevin Love and Anthony Davis have only played big minutes in the two blowouts.

The strength of Team USA is at the guard and wing positions. They have had a lot of success pressing their opponents forcing an average of 26.0 turnovers per game so far in their exhibition play. This was easy to do against D.R. and G.B. but Argentina will not be as weak protecting the ball.

When the United States played Brazil, we saw Brazil not show their entire hand as they played no zone throughout the entire game. Argentina may do the same as so many international coaches choose to do. Playing zone against the U.S. is the best way to beat them as they are weakest shooting from the perimeter and passing the ball around a zone.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski shuffled up the starting lineup in Team USA’s last game against Great Britain starting Durant and Deron Williams instead of Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. Krzyzewski says he has seven starters on this team and it doesn’t matter who he starts.

Durant is averaging the second-most minutes per game on the team so far despite coming off the bench in two of the games. It still feels like a waste not to start him as the team should try and play he and LeBron together as much as possible.

We have seen the United States continually gel and look better playing together with each exhibition game. Today is another chance to get better and they will need to if they plan to take home the Gold.

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE

This is what it looks right before the start of a dynasty.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been growing and learning all year long. They’ve taken the next step and then they’ve taken the one after that.

This was yet another “next step” for them.

The Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 108-103 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals Monday night to go up 3-2 in the series.

The Thunder lost the first two games of this series before winning the next two at home and then Game 5 on the road.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting.

James Harden hit the biggest shot of the night though draining a stepback 3-pointer over Kawhi Leonard with 32 seconds left to put the Thunder ahead 106-101.

Harden made a 3-pointer and was fouled for a 4-point play with 5:17 left that gave Oklahoma City a 101-88 lead.

The Spurs would score the next 11 points to cut their deficit to just two with 1:54 left in the game.

The Thunder did not execute perfectly down the stretch. They did not get many stops. They simply won because of their superior talent.

Russell Westbrook finally ended the Spurs’ run nailing a jumper with 1:40 left to put the Thunder up 103-99.

Westbrook finished with 23 points in the game but his 12 assists were by far the most impressive stat he had.

The Thunder had 22 assists as a team as they have continually improved with their ball movement in this series.

Manu Ginobili scored 34 points to lead the Spurs. He started the game for the first time in the series and was really the only player giving the Thunder fits.

The Thunder knew it was going to be tougher on the road. It was. Serge Ibaka picked up two quick fouls and only played 20 minutes in the game. The Spurs started making shots that they weren’t in Games 3 and 4.

But a soon-to-be champion wins a game like this. The best part about watching the Thunder is seeing them grow. This has been the best example of that yet.

The work for Oklahoma City is far from over though. The Spurs will not quit. The Thunder get a chance to close out this series at home Wednesday night in Game 6.

Manu Ginobili has been one of the Spurs’ best players in this series against the Thunder. Will Popovich consider starting him?

Ginobili is averaging 16.8 points per game, shooting .541 percent from the field and .467 from three in this series. He averaged 23.0 points per game in the first two games and only 10.5 in Oklahoma City.

Changing the starting lineup would be a pretty dramatic adjustment but one that could work.

The Thunder adjusted in the last two games switching Thabo Sefolosha on to Tony Parker on defense. Sefolosha has done a much better job than Russell Westbrook on Parker and it has freed Westbrook to play off the ball on Danny Green and rove the passing lanes.

If Ginobili were inserted into the starting lineup, Westbrook or Sefolosha would obviously have to guard him.

The Spurs would be giving up what has been a pretty big advantage with their second unit against the Thunder. James Harden would have a greater chance to go off with Ginobili not on the floor against him and this move could hurt the Spurs in that sense.

If Popovich does decide to make this adjustment then credit the Thunder. They did their job winning at home, making adjustments and putting their opponent into a position where they felt they needed to adjust (even though that team had won 20 games in a row before Game 3).

Tonight is the pivotal Game 5 that will likely decide the series. It is in San Antonio and will tip at 9 p.m. EST on TNT.

Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant scored 18 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs to help the Thunder even the series at 2-2 with a 109-103 win.

Durant had scored 18 points in the first three quarters for Oklahoma City and then completely took over in the fourth scoring 16-straight points for the Thunder in one stretch.

Durant had only scored 10 points in the fourth quarters of Games 1-3 combined heading into Game 4 and was just 1-for-5 from the field as well.

The Thunder found something that worked and they went to it the rest of the game. Scott Brooks will do this a lot in the fourth quarters of games.

Brooks did this with James Harden in the fourth quarter of Game 4 vs. the Mavericks in the first round. He did it with the Russell Westbrook and Durant pick-and-roll back in January against the Warriors too.

The Thunder ran the same exact play on 10-consecutive half court possessions in the fourth quarter beginning at the 7:25 mark with the Thunder ahead 86-80 and ending with 1:04 left and the Thunder leading 105-96.

It’s a simple play that the Thunder have run many times before and is very effective because it involves Durant, Westbrook and Harden.

Westbrook brings the ball up and waits for Harden to come off two screens on the baseline and pop out to the left wing. After Westbrook passes to Harden, he goes and sets a downscreen on Durant’s man on the right block. Durant then pops up to the top of the key and Westbrook flattens out to the right corner.

The play worked against the Spurs last night in every way possible. When Durant got the ball at the top of the key, he scored nearly every time in an isolation situation. When the Spurs switched the screen and had Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili on Durant, he took advantage and scored going to the rim.

The Thunder even got Harden two wide open 3-point looks from the set when Kendrick Perkins would come up to set a back pick on Harden’s man after Durant made the catch.

This set is nothing special for the Thunder but you don’t have to be special with your play-calling with the Thunder. It works because it spaces the floor nicely and puts Durant in an area where he is very comfortable going to work.

The Thunder hadn’t found a go-to play yet against the Spurs in fourth quarters. They had go-to plays against the Mavericks and Lakers and now look to have found something for San Antonio.

With the series headed back to San Antonio for Game 5 Monday night, the Thunder can expect a much tougher effort from the Spurs than they saw in Oklahoma City. Role players aren’t as good on the road so more of the burden will lie with Durant.

Durant is ready for this though especially after his 18-point fourth quarter in Game 4.

Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t going to get swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. You knew they’d be better at home and they were Thursday night in Game 3 as they impressively won 102-82.

The Spurs looked unbeatable in the first two games which lengthened their winning streak to 20 games in the process. It would be understandable for them to lose a game to the Thunder who are an extremely talented team.

But they lost by 20. The Thunder made significant adjustments and they worked. That’s a bigger deal.

The Thunder changed their rotation from Games 1 and 2. They played Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha much more than they had been and it changed everything.

Sefolosha really took advantage having one of his best games of the year scoring 19 points, making six steals and making four threes.

It was on the defensive side that the Thunder really improved. The Spurs torched the Thunder in Game 2 and in the fourth quarter of Game 1 and it led to Scott Brooks changing the way the Thunder defended the Spurs’ pick-and-roll.

The Thunder went with a small lineup more often in Game 3 and in the fourth quarter of Game 2. They started switching everything and playing with a sense of desperation that was absent before.

Sefolosha took on the task of guarding Tony Parker in Game 3. Parker scored 34 points on 16-of-21 shooting in Game 2 but was held much more intact in Game 3 with just 16 points.

Sefolosha is one of the best defenders in the league and clearly relished the challenge of defending Parker but the rest of the Thunder defense stepped up as well.

Russell Westbrook seemed much more comfortable playing defense off the ball more rather than chasing Parker around pick-and-rolls. He could more freely roam and disrupt passing lanes and later in the game swarmed Manu Ginobili so much on a possession, the Spurs couldn’t even pass him the ball.

Kendrick Perkins, who was somewhat called out for his inability to defend the pick-and-roll, looked like a different player last night. His activity and movement in general was much better and he even stopped Parker and Ginobili from scoring when he switched out on them in one-on-one situations.

A loss might be just one loss but the Thunder team that lost the first two games of this series in San Antonio is no more. The Thunder team we saw in Game 3 is closer to the one we will see for the rest of this series.

The Spurs know what they are and who they are. They will play that way every night. The Thunder are still growing and after losing the first two games had a sort of luxury to adjust and improve.

The Spurs will get that chance for Game 4 too Saturday night in Oklahoma City at 8:30 p.m. EST.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder were in a must-win situation. They came though.

The Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 102-82 to win Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals and make the series 2-1.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 22 points, five assists and six rebounds.

Thabo Sefolosha was the difference in this game as he was the second-leading scorer for the Thunder with 19 points. He also had six steals and held Tony Parker to just 16 points.

The Thunder trailed by two after the first quarter but really turned it up in the second quarter to take control of the game. The Thunder made adjustments by playing Sefolosha and Serge Ibaka more against the second unit of San Antonio and it worked great.

James Harden scored 15 points off the bench for the Thunder while Manu Ginobili scored just eight points.

Russell Westbrook became a point guard for a night dishing out nine assists to go with 10 points and was plus-29 in 33 minutes.

In the first two games of this series, the Thunder played the wrong lineups and the Spurs took advantage winning both at home. The Thunder changed that in Game 3 and may have changed the series.

The Thunder are the more talented team in this series and when they play to their potential, they won’t be beat.

It wasn’t just that the Thunder made adjustments tonight. It’s that the adjustments they made worked. That changes a series. They didn’t simply finally win a game.

This game felt different than the first two because the Thunder adjusted. The Spurs will have the chance to do that in Game 4.

The Thunder will host the Spurs for Game 4 Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. EST on TNT.

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-111 Tuesday night to go up 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals.

The Spurs led by 16 entering the fourth and survived a furious Thunder comeback attempt to hold on for the win.

The Thunder cut the deficit down to six with 5:39 left in the game but that would be as close as they got.

The Spurs scored 37 points in the third quarter and led by as many as 22 points. The Thunder would turn to a hack-a-Splitter at the end of the third which helped them start to comeback.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 31 points to go with five assists and five rebounds. Durant had just four points in the fourth quarter though.

James Harden had a nice bounce-back game with 30 off the bench and was 10-of-13 from the field and the line.

Russell Westbrook struggled again for the most part shooting and containing Tony Parker. He would finish with 31 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and improved his defense on Parker in the fourth quarter.

Parker was the catalyst for San Antonio with 34 points and eight assists and was 16-of-21 from the field.

The Spurs shot 55.1 percent from the field in the game while the Thunder only shot 42.0 percent. The Thunder attempted 36 free throws in the game, had 16 offensive rebounds and had 26 fast break points.

The Thunder went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 112-105 with 1:52 to play before Manu Ginobili stepped up and made a huge three on the next possession.

Ginobili scored 20 points off the bench and was again a really tough cover for Harden.

The Thunder did play small again in the second half but did it with Serge Ibaka on the floor. Ibaka was absent for the final 16 minutes of Game 1 but played a big role in this game with eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Ibaka played better defense on Tim Duncan than he did in the first game and allowed the Thunder to go to a defense where they could switch on almost every pick-and-roll.

When the Thunder turned up their defensive intensity, they once again gave their fans a glimpse of their potential and showed everyone why they have the highest ceiling in the league.

The Thunder have made huge strides this season but the Spurs are reminding them that their journey for a championship isn’t complete yet.

This series is far from over however heading back to Oklahoma City for Games 3 and 4. The Thunder have shown signs of how to beat the Spurs and if they can put an entire game together they could turn this series right around.

Game 3 will be Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. EST on TNT.

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder will get another chance to steal a game in San Antonio tonight at 9:00 p.m. EST on TNT.

The Thunder blew a golden opportunity in Game 1 as they could not hold on to a nine-point lead after three quarters.

The Spurs came roaring back finally looking like the offensive juggernaught they have been all season in that final quarter scoring 39 points including 16 inside the paint.

The Thunder lost any rhythm they had in that final period as Russell Westbrook and James Harden completely deferred to Kevin Durant on offense and the Thunder’s small unit was ineffective on both ends of the floor.

Westbrook and Harden know they have to step up tonight for the Thunder to have a chance and they all know that ball movement must improve against a team like the Spurs to win.

Brooks also has said he regretted not bringing Serge Ibaka back into the game in the fourth quarter to help protect the paint that San Antonio so easily penetrated to.

The Thunder showed in the first three quarters how to beat the Spurs. They played great defense and contested the spot-up outside looks San Antonio got. The Spurs were 9-for-23 on spot-up shots in the game and 5-for-14 on spot-up threes.

The Thunder then got out on the break and did some damage and were 8-of-14 on transition shots in the game. They were unable to score at all on the fast break in the fourth quarter and that had mostly to do with an inability to get stops or force turnovers.

The Thunder had nine offensive rebounds in the first half and none in the second. They became more isolation-heavy in the second half and combine that with going small and it won’t result in many second-chance opportunities for any team.

The Thunder need to continue to commit on defense and they should but the offense needs to be better too starting with Westbrook and Harden.

Westbrook became an erratic attacker in Game 1 as his jump shot was not always falling. He needs to be more under control in Game 2 and after a game of seeing how the Spurs guarded him, he should do a better job of this tonight.

Harden was out of it in Game 1 as he became frustrated that his shots were not falling. He did not attempt a free throw for this first time all season in that game and committed two uncharacteristic charges as well.

If Harden can get his offense going like usual it will help rejuvenate him on defense too which is very important since he will again find himself matched up with Manu Ginobili who had a big Game 1.

Tonight feels like a must-win for the Thunder. You need to win once on the road to win the series and going down 0-2 is a tough hole even for the Thunder.

You can always count on the Thunder this season to play hard every night. They will give it their best shot tonight and if that is not enough, winning the series will get tougher but won’t be impossible.

Soobum-Im-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder led 71-62 after three quarters in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals in San Antonio. They had a great chance to steal one on the road and blew it.

The Spurs outscored the Thunder 39-27 in the fourth as they made a ton of their field goals at the rim.

Serge Ibaka only played 22 minutes in the game and didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter. Scott Brooks decided to go small more than usual and it ended up costing the Thunder the game.

The obvious adjustment as the Spurs were coming back in the fourth was to bring Ibaka back in. When the other team is relentlessly getting shots at the rim, you bring in the best shot blocker in the NBA.

The Thunder defense is much worse when they go small with Kevin Durant at the four. The only reason Brooks likes to go small is that he feels their offense improves with Durant at the four but that wasn’t the case last night either.

The Thunder became stagnant down the stretch as Russell Westbrook and James Harden did not have it going. The offense turned into nothing but isolation for Durant and while he was forced to play the entire second half and try and be the guy rotating over all the time on defense it just became too much.

The Thunder also had nine offensive rebounds in the first half and none in the second. As they weren’t hitting their shots, another reason to come back with Ibaka would have been to help crash the glass.

One of the possible reasons why Brooks elected to remain with the small lineup may have been because San Antonio was playing small with a lineup of Parker-Neal-Ginobili-Jackson-Duncan. That means Ibaka would have had to match up with a spot-up shooter, either Neal or Jackson, and Brooks maybe didn’t like the idea of that.

In a series, when one team is dictating lineup decisions or style of play, it always bodes well for that team. It would have been tough to cover all of the shooters with Ibaka on the floor with Kendrick Perkins but the Spurs would have had to adjust on the other end of the floor too. The Thunder were going to sacrifice something in this matchup no matter what.

People are going to point to Perkins being on the floor instead of Ibaka but that really wasn’t the problem. Perkins is a better post defender than Ibaka and that’s why Brooks had him out there instead.

Nick Collison may have been a better choice than Perkins to some as well but they give up a lot of rebounding when Collison is in so that totally would not have solved their problem either.

Derek Fisher and Thabo Sefolosha were the ones getting run instead of Ibaka. Fisher and Sefolosha both had good nights and that is also possibly why Brooks was okay staying with them.

The Thunder’s best lineup to close games is one we rarely see. It’s the obvious Durant-Westbrook-Harden trio with Ibaka and Collison. Instead, the Thunder are usually either small with Fisher or Perkins instead of Collison.

The Spurs run more pick-and-rolls than almost anyone and having the best pick-and-roll defenders on the floor is really important if the Thunder are going to win this series. Collison is the best at defending the pick-and-roll and Ibaka is the best at coming over for weak side blocks.

The Thunder are capable of winning this series but last night we didn’t really see the Thunder. That’s why it’s hard to take this Game 1 completely serious. Sure, the Spurs executed great down the stretch but we knew they would. It’s all about how the Thunder combat the Spurs’ offense.

They dropped the ball in Game 1 remaining small and it cost them an extremely important game. Without home court, the Thunder will have to win at least one in San Antonio to win the series.

If they can steal Game 2 then they’d need to win three straight against the Spurs if they also plan to protect home court. The Spurs have now won a franchise-best 19 straight games and haven’t lost since April 11.

It’s easy to overreact after one game in a series and it’s easy to have a hard time imagining a team adjusting well enough to win right after a loss.

The Thunder have the tools though. This team has surprised all year long with their growing maturity and path toward becoming a champion. Winning Game 2 in San Antonio is part of them taking the next step.

Soobum-Im-US PRESSWIRE

The San Antonio Spurs erased a nine-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to come back and beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals Sunday night.

The Spurs scored 39 points in the fourth quarter after trailing 71-62 after three quarters.

Manu Ginobili spearheaded the comeback and Spurs’ offense in general with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting off the bench.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 27 points and 10 rebounds but didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter.

Russell Westbrook and James Harden didn’t have it going on the night and that really cost the Thunder down the stretch as they became very one-dimensional and isolation-heavy.

Westbrook scored 17 points with five rebounds and five assists in the game but was 7-for-21 from the field and just 1-of-2 at the free throw line.

Harden uncharacteristically didn’t attempt any free throws in the game and finished with 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting.

The Thunder decided to go small a lot in the game and overall did not have much success doing so aside from a short stretch to finish the third quarter.

The Spurs were able to take advantage of the Thunder’s weakened help side defense in the paint when they were small and really attacked the rim with a lot of success.

The Thunder got out to a slow start in the game but got back into it behind a lot of energy on defense. They forced 14 turnovers in the first half and just two in the second.

Tony Parker had a quiet night for San Antonio with just 18 points and six assists but hit a few big shots late.

The Spurs went 8-for-24 on threes in the game and credit the Thunder defense for actively contesting a lot of those attempts.

The Spurs outrebounded the Thunder 50-43 in the game. The Thunder had nine offensive rebounds in the first half and none in the second.

Game 2 will be Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. EST on TNT.

The Thunder and Spurs have both waited nearly a week to get back on the basketball court while the Eastern Conference figured out who would be in their conference finals.

The Spurs are widely considered the favorites to win this series as they have home court, swept the first two rounds of the playoffs and haven’t lost in general since April 11.

The Thunder are not to be overlooked though as they too are playing their best basketball of the season and present plenty of matchup problems for the Spurs. Here at Thunderous Intentions you can see our individual matchup previews of James Harden-Mani Ginobili, Russell Westbrook-Tony Parker and Kevin Durant-Tim Duncan.

The series isn’t only about the big three’s of each team. The Thunder and Spurs are the two best teams in the league right now because they are complete teams.

Here is how the Thunder offense stacks up against the Spurs defense based on their postseason play.

The pick-and-roll game will define this series maybe more than anything else. Both teams run pick-and-roll a ton and do it very well.

Both teams were running pick-and-roll right around 22-23 percent of the time in the regular season and have each upped that percentile to around 28 here in the playoffs which is expected as half court basketball is more prevalent now.

The Thunder get most of their production from their big three while the Spurs are more balance this year.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each have been fantastic in the pick-and-roll so far in the playoffs. Durant has a PPP of 0.98 and Westbrook 0.99.

James Harden, who is normally the Thunder’s best pick-and-roll player, has actually dropped down from a PPP of 1.06 in the regular season to 0.78 in the playoffs. Harden still is a monster in the pick-and-roll and while he may be underperforming in that area in the first two rounds, this matchup with the Spurs should see Harden improve that number.

The Thunder’s ability to be effective in the pick-and-roll is a big deal when playing the Spurs who were 29th in the league in defending the pick-and-roll in the regular season and only two teams have been worse than them at it in the playoffs.

Now the Spurs have also been very good on offense relying on the pick-and-roll but the Thunder have been great at defending it, second-best among playoff teams.

In the regular season, Tony Parker had a lot of success against the Thunder including a 42-point night and became much more of a scorer the way OKC defended him. Westbrook’s defense on Parker and defensive strategy in the pick-and-roll will be interesting to look at early in Game 1.

The Spurs really get a lot of offense from spot-up shooting. Great passing teams like San Antonio that love to find open looks for not any particular player do this.

The Spurs get over 21 percent of their offense from spot-up shooting and that’s how they maximize the production of their role players.

Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Gary Neal and Boris Diaw have all significantly increased their PPP on spot-up shots in the playoffs and that has had a lot to do with how dominant San Antonio was in the first two rounds.

The Thunder aren’t the greatest either at allowing open spot-up looks despite how athletic they are on defense. Oklahoma City has improved their overall defensive intensity in the playoffs and when both teams are bearing down the Thunder should be able to do a good job getting out and contesting on the Spurs’ spot-up shooters.

Discipline on the Thunder’s part will be huge in this series. If they get behind early and are in a sort of panic mode trying to come back in a game the Spurs will feast on them on offense.

This is where everyone is picking the Spurs. They have been there before and we know they are going to come out and execute very well.

The Thunder have the chance to implode, or at least that’s what people think. But the Thunder have come a long way this season and look like a team ready to take yet another step toward a championship this postseason.

Beating this Spurs team is the next step. They have the talent and are looking the part but it won’t be easy. It shouldn’t though and that’s what’s going to make this series so great.

1. The Spurs have seemingly played perfect basketball in the playoffs sweeping two inferior teams. Could this in any way be something that hasn’t prepared them for a team like the Thunder?

I don’t think so. As a Spurs fan (and I am a tad biased), I don’t see why we should give too much credence to the notion that playoff teams need to have a couple of close games under their belts to be considered legitimate. What’s so wrong about winning eight consecutive playoff games by an average of 13.8 points? How can we possibly find faults in a basketball team that dominated their opponents in such a way that left them emaciated and unwilling to continue? Isn’t winning eight consecutive games by 13.8 points more impressive than consistently edging out close wins? I think so. Plus, if you are really set on taking that approach to demean the Spurs’ accomplishments then look no further than their 24-point comeback against the Clippers in Game 3. That, more than anything, shows the moxie of this San Antonio team.

2. The Spurs’ offense is what makes them great while their defense isn’t the best. Is their defense good enough to win a championship?

Yes. It’s a big misconception to devalue the Spurs’ defense on account of their offense. In fact, it’s been the defense that has attributed to their winning streak as much, if not more, than the offense. I could go all nerdy on you but I’ll limit my sample size to their last eight games (ie: the playoffs). The San Antonio defense allowed 88.8 points per game against the Jazz and Clippers. Both teams ranked in the top seven in offensive rating. The Thunder allowed 91.9 points against the Mavericks and Lakers. They ranked 10th and 22nd in offensive rating, respectively. Of course, this trend goes farther than the playoffs when their defense started picking up steam in late-March but you get the point. Defense will not be the reason why the Spurs will not win a championships (I’m betting they do).

3. Normally depth and role players go by the wayside somewhat when the playoffs start. This hasn’t been the case for the Spurs so far. Will their depth and role players stop being such a strength at any point in the playoffs?

Nope. Their role players aren’t merely “role players” in the sense that they are expected to fill one specified role. A lot of these guys can fill many holes while still being effective. Plus, there are just so many guys that Pop can throw out there without missing a beat. They will always make an impact although sometimes it’s pretty subtle.

4. People talk about how difficult it is for the Thunder to contain the Spurs’ offense. How will the Spurs contain Durant, Westbrook and Harden?

A lot of praying and avoiding ladders. It’s going to be incredibly difficult and Oklahoma City will score 100 points multiple times in this series just because their talent warrants that amount of scoring. I just can’t get over their reliance on isolations; they represent 13.1% of the offense. That’s a lot. For context, their 0.87 PPP on isolations is only marginally more efficient than the Charlotte Bobcats recorded on screens away from the ball (0.85) and Charlotte ranked 21st in that category. Until they redistribute their possessions, I can still cling to some hope.

5. Predict the outcome of the series.

Spurs in five. My blood pressure doesn’t like the sound of a seven-game series and my gut doesn’t feel think closing out a Game 6 in Oklahoma City is a realistic possibility. Five is a little low, admittedly, but it just feels right in this instance. I’m not overly confident in this prediction.

The Spurs offense, thankfully, doesn’t conform to the league accepted policy of bludgeoning the defense into submission, recklessly and artlessly. Their offense predicates on ball movement, misdirections, multiple options, floor spacing, perimeter shooting and cohesiveness. Most teams don’t have enough technically intelligent and willing basketball players to replicate the Spurs’ system. Another important thing in their favor is continuity. Continuity allows the Spurs to continue plodding, dominating opposing teams without sacrificing offensive variance.

Variance is key. Variance keeps the defense guessing. Variance invariably leads to defensive mishaps, the likes of which are very favorable to the Spurs’ offense. Variance makes other options more effective by default. Defenders can’t expect a certain event to occur; they can only make educated guesses based on probability. A lot of teams fall into a repetitive pattern, making defense a lot easier.

A typical Spurs possession can either have A) pick-and-roll action with Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and, less likely, Gary Neal, B) weakside action that frees up Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard for forays to the rim, C) Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter, both effective roll man, taking advantage of soft interior defense, D) the aforementioned Green and Leonard spotting up, E) post-ups for Duncan, F) Boris Diaw utilizing his passing gits, etc etc. A lot of teams have the potential of offensive success but likely they succumb to isolations and poor execution. The Spurs aren’t one of those teams. Not only do they have a lot of options but these options are generally above-average options in terms of efficiency.

This is my favorite part, as a Spurs fan, to look for every night. We are treated to a surprise every night. There are the usual contributors but the Spurs are almost always receive unheralded contributions from a few rotation players. It could be Green knocking down open 3′s, Diaw grabbing rebounds and shooting 7-7 from the field, Leonard scoring in double-figures, Gary Neal and Matt Bonner stretching the defense and so on. The Spurs are unpredictable. (Hence my overemphasis on variance earlier).

Their only weakness is on post-ups. San Antonio scores 0.76 points per possession on post-ups, putting them 26th in the league. Duncan tends to dominate this possession type and even a player of his stature doesn’t produce at an average mark. 9.2% of San Antonio’s possessions come from post-ups which is a little high given their lack of success. But that’s nitpicking.

Pick-and-rolls are very important in the Motion “Weak” offense. Parker and Ginobili are adept at making the right play — Parker has made a lot of strides in this department — and the big man simply take advantage of the lack of attention. DeJuan Blair and Tiago Splitter aren’t players you can rely on to create for themselves but within the confines of the pick-and-roll they excel. Splitter averaged 1.31 PPP as the roll man in the pick-and-roll, a number that is only bested by four players in the entire league. Blair isn’t too far behind with a 1.17 PPP that puts him in the top 20. Not too shabby.

Spot-ups come as a direct result from pick-and-rolls and action off the ball. San Antonio is adroit at freeing up space for their shooters as their 1.02 PPP suggests. Spot-ups represent an abnormally high percentage of the Spurs’ offensive distribution (22.8%). This gives credence to the notion that building an offense around the perimeter isn’t so bad.

I could go on and on about this Spurs offense, including their transition offense, cutting ability and surprisingly reliable isolations, although isolations only represent 7.1% of their distribution. But that would be overkill.

The moral of the story? The Spurs are an elite offensive team and their offensive tendencies are unprecedented.

Can you name another NBA team that incorporates every player into the offense as effortlessly as San Antonio?

The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs will begin the Western Conference Finals this coming Sunday at 8:30 p.m. EST.

It is a very highly touted matchup between the two teams that are playing better than anyone else in the NBA right now. Combined they have lost just one game in the playoffs so far.

There will be many great matchups in the series beginning with maybe one of the most important: James Harden and Manu Ginobili.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Harden came into the league in 2009 and was always compared to Ginobili. Both are left-handed and have very similar styles of play and skill sets. Harden is blossoming into an All-Star now in his third season while Ginobili is on the decline but still very much a star in his own right.

Harden and Ginobili are also two of the best sixth men in the history of the NBA. Both could start but their teams need them to come off the bench to really hit their potentials.

Harden played in 62 games for the Thunder this season and averaged 16.8 points per game, 3.7 assists and had a career-high true shooting percentage of .660.

Harden has picked up his game in the playoffs most noticeable in his aggressiveness getting to the line. He averaged 6.0 free throw attempts per game in the regular season and is getting to the line 7.9 times per game in the playoffs.

Ginobili played just 34 games this season and actually began the season as a starter before returning to his more comfortable role off the pine. He averaged just 12.9 points (lowest since 2004) and 4.4 assists with a true shooting percentage of .668.

Ginobili, while capable of turning it up in the playoffs, hasn’t needed too yet for the Spurs and is scoring only 11.3 points per game in the playoffs but playing just 26.3 minutes per game.

Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

Harden and Ginobili will play huge roles in this upcoming series. The Thunder really rely on Harden to lead their second unit and sometimes even get them back into the game.

The Thunder usually have an advantage when their bench is in mainly because of Harden but the Spurs probably have the best bench in the NBA and the best depth of any team in the league.

So the matchup is really Harden vs. Ginobili and the entire Spurs bench. Harden is a one man show out there for the Thunder while the Spurs get it done by committee.

While Harden may not be able to match the Spurs production himself, it will still be vitally important for him to at least keep it close and get into a rhythm himself.

One of the secrets about the Spurs that not many people are talking about (which is understandable since they haven’t lost a game since April 11) is that they aren’t the greatest defensive team. The Spurs don’t have what we’d call a “championship” defense.

They’ve dominated in the playoffs largely because of how efficient their offense is. Their defense isn’t bad, but it’s not what’s won them games so far.

Handling the Thunder offense is going to be a brand new challenge for the Spurs and handling Harden in general may be impossible for them.

In three games against San Antonio this season, Harden averaged 19.3 points and shot .594 percent from the field. He’s going to be able to get into good rhythm in this series and that’s not a good thing for the Spurs.

The greatest advantage that the Thunder have against the Spurs is that their big three should be able to “get theirs” pretty easily and starting with Harden.

What we’re going to see in this series will be different from what we’ve seen so far for both teams.

The Spurs will be up against a team that will be able to match their offensive fire power or at least come very close. The Thunder will be playing against a veteran team who is going to come out and accomplish just about everything they want to.

It is hard to imagine saying that James Harden will have a big series and the Thunder will not win. But the Spurs are the only team who could probably withstand a Harden storm and it will be coming.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden was named the NBA’s best sixth man yesterday to the surprise of no one. Harden was winning this award from the first game of the season this year and had little competition for it all season.

Harden averaged basically a 17-4-4 shooting 49 percent from the field and 39 percent from three. He did everything for Oklahoma City’s second unit and showed in Game 4 that he can be relied on to close out games for them as well.

Is Harden one of the best sixth men ever? Is he the best one ever?

The award wasn’t given out until the 1982-83 season. Bobby Jones of Philadelphia won it that year then Kevin McHale won it the next two. The Sixth Man of the Year award winner was on the NBA championship team in three of the first four seasons.

Sixth men have always been a crucial piece to championship teams. And it makes sense too. Being a sixth man often means sacrificing being a starter and hearing your name called out every night before the game. Winning a championship is about sacrificing for the team and for the greater good.

Before we determine if Harden is the best sixth man ever we need to figure out what are the best qualities for a sixth man to have.

Scoring off the bench is probably the most important. It is so valuable to have someone who can come in off the bench and score at a high level. And when you get to do this against a second unit it can sometimes become a deadly weapon like in the case of Harden.

Harden is really one of the premiere one-on-one scorers in the league and when he gets to play the first six minutes of the second and fourth quarters against bench units he is really able to take advantage of this strength.

Like I mentioned before being a player who is willing to sacrifice is also an important ingredient in a sixth man. Harden is easily able to do this because he plays with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. So it makes a ton of sense for him to play a lot of minutes without either of them so that the Thunder can maximize their three best players’ potential.

A great sixth man must also be able to close out games. We saw Jason Terry as a perfect example of this last year for Dallas and Harden is now showing signs of becoming that guy for Oklahoma City. Manu Ginobili was also the offensive closer in a lot of cases during his championship days for San Antonio.

What really makes Harden so special is that he not only can carry a scoring load for the second unit but also essentially is the point guard for the Thunder’s bench squad. When Eric Maynor was lost for the year with an injury earlier this season, Harden’s role increased. He had to create everything for himself and others on the bench.

I think this is where Harden separates himself from past Sixth Man of the Year winners is his ability to thrive in two crucial bench roles. He can do this because he has superstar talent and an incredible understanding of how to play the game and what’s important.

Harden is no right up there with ’08 Ginobili who played a similar role that Harden did this year and with slightly better numbers.

Other than Ginobili you have to go back to the 1980’s to find a better sixth man than Harden. In 1985, Kevin McHale averaged a 20-9 for the Celtics and he also shot .570 percent from the field. The year before McHale averaged 18.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and they won the title.

Harden’s not on that level yet and may never be at least as a sixth man. Harden has a chance in the rest of these playoffs to get there though. If he becomes the closer for the Thunder handling the ball down the stretch of games then this Thunder team really has a chance to go all the way, cementing Harden as possibly the best bench player of all-time.

You can also download the podcast here.

In the first ever FanSided NBA Podcast I interview our very own editor of Sir Charles in Charge Chris Walder. Chris came on to give his thoughts on Dwight Howard and his fallout with the Orlando Magic, the chances of Boston and New York making playoff runs, who the MVP of the NBA is so far this season and who the favorites are to win the NBA title.

Be sure to listen to the podcast here or you can also download the podcast.

Follow Chris on Twitter @WalderSports

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder have the second-best record in the NBA this season at 39-12. They are the favorite to come out of the Western Conference and play in the NBA Finals. They are doing this despite their four best players being 23 or 22 years old.

The Thunder have been one of the more impressive teams to watch in the NBA this season. Every game they play in is filled with athletic highlights and incredible shot making. It is hard not to love this team and how they are put together.

But are the Thunder built for winning a title? Do the pieces really fit?

The criticism when it comes to the Thunder is usually directed at point guard Russell Westbrook and how he is not a point guard and how he shoots too much. I’ve made the argument that he is of course not a true point guard and is called on to do much more for the Thunder as a scorer as well, resulting in his high shot totals.

The real thing to note about the Thunder is how top heavy they are when it comes to usage rate. Usage percentage rates how much a player uses his team’s possessions counting field goal, free throw attempts and turnovers. This is a good way to help see how efficient a player really is.

I went back to 1980 and took a look at every team that won the title and what each of their player’s usage rates were in the playoffs for that championship run.

In the 1980’s, the teams that won were much more balanced and didn’t really on one star to carry much of the load. In 1985 the Lakers actually had five players with a usage rate of 20.0 or higher. Larry Bird had usage rates of 23.2, 25.9 and 23.3 in his championship years.

Things changed in the 1990’s and mainly because of Michael Jordan. Jordan has the highest usage rate of all-time in the NBA and his playoff usage rates were no exception. He recorded the highest playoff usage rate in 1993 at 38.0. During the Bulls’ title run from 1996-98, Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Toni Kukoc averaged usage rates around 35-23-19, respectively.

When the Lakers started winning titles in the 2000’s, the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal duo became probably the best duo ever and their usage rates represented this for how close they were and how high too. Kobe averaged a 28.9 usage rate from 2000-02 and Shaq a 31.6. In 2001 they were the only teammates ever to both have usage rates above 30.0.

In fact, not that many players have usage rates over 30 on championship teams. Take a look at the players that did: Dirk, Kobe, Wade, Duncan, Shaq, Jordan, Olajuwon, Vinnie Johnson and Andrew Toney. So if you are going to shoot a lot, you better be one of the best players ever.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

This is where the Thunder come in. Westbrook and Durant both have usage rates over 30.0 this season. Westbrook has a higher usage rate than any point guard to ever start on a championship team. Not only that, but the trio of Durant-Westbrook-Harden’s combined usage rate this season is 85.2, higher than any other trio ever.

Last season in the playoffs when Westbrook received all of the heat for shooting too much, he had a usage rate of 34.4 while Durant was at only 29.0 and Harden 17.1. Again, not all of the blame should go to Westbrook here but that formula definitely isn’t going to work.

This regular season has Westbrook leading the Thunder at 32.7 with Durant at 31.0, Harden 21.5 and Serge Ibaka just 15.3.

I’ve said before that the sort of model the Thunder will need to follow to win a championship is that of the San Antonio Spurs’. They had a high-volume point guard in Tony Parker along with Manu Ginobili who is so similar to James Harden and Tim Duncan who had similar usage rates to Durant’s.

Parker had the highest usage rate ever by a point guard in 2007 at 29.2 when the Spurs won the title. Westbrook would probably need to get around that number for the Thunder to improve their title chances. If he does that it will mean more balance for the Thunder and probably a rise in production from Harden and Ibaka.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The more you look at this Thunder the more you think they probably are one year away still. For Westbrook to get his usage rate down, it’s really just going to take Harden upping his and he is only in his third season this year and if he continues improving next season, this may very well happen. We have already seen instances this season when Harden becomes the primary ball-handler even with Westbrook on the floor.

The other thing that will probably start to happen next year is a growing of Westbrook as a playmaker. His assists are way down this season and that may be because he has become such a dominant athlete and scorer this year. Next year he should learn to better balance that with playmaking helping get Ibaka better involved as well as more looks for Durant and Harden off his passes.

The one thing the Thunder have working for them in terms of winning this season is that their biggest competition in the Eastern Conference, Miami and Chicago, also have issues with their usage rates.

The Heat have a similar top heavy big three in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh who are combining for 87.3 usage rate, even higher than Oklahoma City’s big three. James and Wade are both over 30.0 which is something that only happened once in a playoff run with Kobe and Shaq. The highest usage rates for Jordan-Pippen was in 1993 when Jordan was 38.0 and Pippen 26.2.

An interesting thing happened for the Heat last year in the playoffs with James’ usage rate decreasing from his 2011 regular season mark of 31.5 to 26.9 with Wade’s remaining about the same over 30.0. This is the whole alpha dog issue with the Heat and what LeBron should do in the playoffs. You wouldn’t expect his usage to drop below 30 this postseason and really it should be higher than Wade’s. But we’ve never seen a team win a title with two perimeter players having such high usage rates.

As for the Chicago Bulls, it is no secret that they may rely too heavily on Derrick Rose to make every play on offense. Rose had a usage rate of 35.2 in the playoffs last season, higher than any other player and will likely have to carry a similar load this season, although Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer have improved some.

The toughest test for the Thunder may be the Spurs though. They haven’t shown any signs that they will be able to beat them in a playoff series and the Spurs added some pieces in Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw that will improve their team even more come playoff time. This may not be the year the Thunder win it all but that really isn’t the end of the world. Next year should be their prime time but they still may be able to steal a title this season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t exercise their demons against the Spurs Friday night losing 114-105.

The Thunder got off to one of their signature slow starts and couldn’t amount enough of a comeback to get the victory at home against the team with the second-best record in the Western Conference.

Russell Westbrook kept the Thunder afloat like he so often does and led the team with 36 points. Kevin Durant scored 25 points in 43 minutes. James Harden had 19 points off the bench to go along with five assists and seven rebounds.

Tony Parker lit up the Thunder for 42 points in the teams’ last meeting and was effective again last night scoring 25 points to along with seven assists.

The big problem for Oklahoma City was Danny Green and DeJuan Blair combining for 43 points for the Spurs. The Thunder simply aren’t going to beat San Antonio allowing that kind of production from their role players.

The Thunder allowed the Spurs to shoot nearly 52 percent from the field last night and that’s something that obviously can’t happen in the playoffs. The Spurs who will add Manu Ginobili and Stephen Jackson to their cast that topped the Thunder last night are suddenly appearing as the legit two-seed that can challenge the Thunder for a spot in the NBA Finals.

Soobum Im-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
106.7 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.5 Defensive Efficiency (11th)
95.9 Pace (4th)
56.9 True Shooting % (1st)
51.3 Rebound Rate (5th)

Spurs (2-game winning streak)
105.6 Offensive Efficiency (4th)
101.6 Defensive Efficiency (16th)
94.0 Pace (16th)
54.7 True Shooting % (4th)
49.9 Rebound Rate (17th)

The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off an impressive 103-90 win last night over the Denver Nuggets. The Thunder made a season-high 12 three-pointers in the game.

Yesterday was the NBA trade deadline and while the Thunder stood pat with their roster, San Antonio did not trading away Richard Jefferson and a first-round pick to Golden State for Stephen Jackson.

Jackson previously played for San Antonio from 2001-03 and won the title with the team in the 2002-03 season. Jackson will bring some added offense to the Spurs who currently sit second in the West in terms of record behind only the Thunder.

The last time these two teams played Tony Parker put on a clinic scoring 42 points and dishing out nine assists. The Thunder had no chance in that game being played in San Antonio.

Tonight the Thunder will look for payback at home only this time the Spurs will also be with Manu Ginobili who has returned from injury and continuing his fine season.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Thunder also have a player back from injury in Thabo Sefolosha who played his first game last night after missing the previous 23. Sefolosha brings back some athleticism and defense to the starting lineup and allows for the Thunder to return to their original rotation from earlier this season bringing Daequan Cook off the bench.

Kevin Durant did not play very well against the Spurs last time scoring only 22 points and neither did Russell Westbrook who scored 18.

The game was only kind of close because of the Thunder bench which made runs with Parker out and kept the score respectable.

The Thunder have been prone to slow starts this season and can’t afford that against a quality team like the Spurs.

It is unlikely that Jackson will play tonight but the return of Ginobili should present a bigger challenge for the Thunder tonight. They are going to need to be clicking on all cylinders to make sure they come away with a victory.

Westbrook should be motivated to take on the challenge against Parker tonight and hopefully that results in a good thing for the Thunder.

James Harden went 0-for-3from three against the Spurs last time but hit four threes last night. The Thunder will need Harden and the rest of the second-unit to play well as the Spurs get a lot of production from their bench.

The game will tip at 9:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.

Below are the questions I asked Quixem:

AK: What is the confidence level for Spurs fans right now with this team? Another impressive regular season as a top-2 seed in the West currently but it feels like no one is giving them too much credit and that probably has a lot to do with the first round loss last season. Do you feel like the legit 2-seed in the West?

QR: No one ever gives the Spurs credit. As a progressive fan base, we’ve accepted that. Embraced that. And yes, I’d say there is definitely an aura of confidence among Spurs fans. There is some (and I include myself to an extent) that are a little wary of proclaiming this team a contender. That stems from our 61-21 record last year and the subsequent disappointment we endured after the Spurs were ousted from the playoffs in six games — to an eight seed. The Grizzlies were an impossibly unfortunate matchup for the Spurs so keep that in mind.

The emergence of Tiago Splitter, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green give me hope that this team will not have the same fate as last years squad. Although we aren’t going to have the same winning percentage as last year, I feel like we’ll have more playoff success. Just my gut.

AK: Thought on the Stephen Jackson trade? How does this help the Spurs? How might it hurt them?

QR: I don’t know how to approach the Stephen Jackson trade. Part of me really likes the deal and part of me feels indifferent. Defensively, this trades a wash. RJ was never able to improve defensively as a Spur but, even so, it was pretty apparent that he gave a crap. I always appreciated that. He approached his demotion — check out his tenure with New Jersey, he was electric — with humility and grace. He came to the Spurs as an athletic, uber confident player. His first year wasn’t good for his self-confidence. It took awhile to adjust, but give him credit for embracing his new role as a spot up shooter (he was decidedly below average until recently).

That being said, I was ready for RJ to leave. A recurring theme was his propensity to disappear. When he’s aggressive, the Spurs are always better. When he’s not, he’s just a waste of space. Stephen Jackson has a reputation for being a bad teammate but Tim Duncan swears that he was a great teammate. I believe him. Jackson will bring a lot of energy and heart to the team. Who cares if he’s an inefficient scorer at this stage of his career?

AK: The Spurs beat the Thunder last time with Parker scoring 42. Do the Spurs feel like an underdog against the Thunder or are they confident they can beat the Thunder in a series?

QR: The Thunder are an amazing team. I can only imagine the excitement of the Thunder fan base. They’re so young, so talented, ripe with potential. That being said, I don’t think the Spurs feel like an underdog against the Thunder (I think the Spurs are 7-1 in their last 8 against OKC but I could be wrong). We specialize on beating teams down with execution and sound fundamentals. I think, in those two areas, the Thunder leave something to be desired. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Spurs beat the Thunder in a seven game playoff series.

AK: What would be the worst playoff matchup for the Spurs?

QR: I’m still a little better so I don’t want to play Memphis. It would be nice to kick their ass though. Any team with legitimate size can pose a threat to our team. The general consensus among Spurs fans is that we need another big man (either a defensive minded center or power forward that can guard stretch 4′s and stronger 4′s). I wouldn’t want to see the Lakers either. Bynum and Gasol are tough. Plus, Jordan Hill gives them some frontcourt depth.

AK: A healthy Manu Ginobili is one of a kind. If Ginobili is 100 percent in the playoffs does that make the Spurs a real title contender?

QR: Definitely. Absolutely yes. Prior to his injury, Manu was playing at a LeBron James level (small sample size but his PER was higher than LeBron’s). Manu is the ultimate X-factor. He is an adept passer off pick-and-rolls, has a genuine sense of the moment and can change the tenor of a game by himself. Now that Tony Parker is playing at an MVP level and Timmy is still producing well on a per-minute basis, the Spurs are definitely a title contender.

Just please stay healthy Manu. Please.

Head over to Air Alamo to see the questions I asnwered about the Oklahoma City Thunder and follow Quixem on Twitter @LWM_sucks.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden’s rookie contract will be up after the 2013-14 season. The Oklahoma City Thunder of course plan to re-sign he and Serge Ibaka at this point. This could become tricky considering that in 2015 Harden will be the best shooting guard in the NBA.

This past week we saw Harden play some of the best basketball of his career with games scoring 30 then 33 points, both career-highs at the time. Right now Harden is coming off the bench averaging 17.2 points per game with a 21.4 PER. He won the Sixth Man of the Year award in the first week of the season.

In terms of PER, Harden is only behind Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Many Ginobili as far as shooting guards are concerned. I’ve said before that Ginobili is the type of player Harden is turning into.

Three years from now those three are going to decline considerably and Harden will be all of just 25 years old. There aren’t many other shooting guards out there who are going to be challenging Harden as the best at their position in the league.

Let’s go through the contenders assuming to not count anyone who is not yet in the league since they would only have been in the league for two years anyway by 2015.

Eric Gordon, Monta Ellis, Paul George and MarShon Brooks are Harden’s competition. They all have at least an outside shot of passing Harden but it is unlikely especially considering their current playing situations.

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

The Thunder are going to have a chance to have on their team in 2015 the best small forward in the league (Durant), a top three point guard (Westbrook) and the best shooting guard (Harden) and maybe even the best low-post defender (Ibaka). That is crazy to think about how good this team’s future looks.

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s kind of important to have a good two-guard if you’re interested in winning championships.

In the last 12 years, the best two-guard on the team that won the NBA title scored an average of 22.5 points per game, significantly higher than any other position. Having a shooting guard who can fill it up is an essential ingredient toward winning championships.

People love to salivate over the all-around small forward but having your best player be a “jack of all trades” type doesn’t seem to necessarily result in championships as much.

Since 2000, only Paul Pierce has averaged over 13.3 points per game as the starting small forward of a championship team. Usually teams that win the title have a defensive stopper as their small forward.

Kevin Durant is obviously the small forward of the future for Oklahoma City and will always be their leading scorer. The direction Durant is headed as an offensive player is (hopefully) closer to the player that Dirk Nowitzki became in the playoffs last season (back to basket scorer).

The future makeup of the Thunder is starting to remind me more and more of the Spurs of the last decade. Durant is the Tim Duncan of the team as the reliable post-up scorer. Russell Westbrook is the lightning quick point guard who is score-first like Tony Parker. And James Harden is of course the Ginobili coming off the bench.

Before I sometimes questioned the makeup of the Thunder team in terms of where they got their offense from and if it could work in winning a championship. But the more you watch them grow together and try to project their future makeup it really makes you see just how good they are going to become.

The key to all of it is going to be Harden flying under the radar and becoming the best two-guard on the planet.

The first one was a study done on rebounding. Using SportVu’s technology, Rajiv Maheswaran, Yu-Han Chang, Aaron Henehan and Samantha Danesis tracked locations of rebounds and looked for a relationship between rebound locations, shot locations and offensive rebound rate.

The data was not terribly surprising but very interesting. In basketball, there is a common thought that the longer the shot you take, the longer the rebound and thus the better chance for an offensive rebound in some cases.

According to the study, the highest chance for offensive rebounds occurs for shots taken very close to the basket within four feet. This makes sense with there being a lot of tip-ins near the rim.

The offensive rebound rate then started to decline by almost exactly one percent every foot you moved away from the basket that a shot was taken. It continued to do this all the way to the three-point line at around 20-feet. But after you got to 20-feet, the offensive rebound rate began to rise more and more the further you went out all the way to 26-feet by the same percentage of one percent per foot.

This isn’t surprising since a lot of deep threes will result in unpredictable and rare acting rebounds. The interesting part is that the value of taking deeper shots pertaining to offensive rebound rate mirrors the same value of taking three-point field goals in terms of effective field goal percentage.

We know that taking a long two-pointer is the worst shot in basketball because it is a low percentage look and only worth two points. It makes sense to then take a three-point shot only a few feet further instead because it’s worth 50 percent more. It also now seems to make sense because not only will the shot be worth three points instead of two but you also have a significant better chance of getting the offensive rebound on three-pointers compared to long two-pointers.

We’ve seen this strategy in place in the NBA most notably by the Orlando Magic. The Magic surround Dwight Howard with a bunch of three-point shooters. They shoot as many threes as any team in the league and when they don’t, they try and throw the ball into Howard for shots in the paint. On paper, this makes more sense than anything else in basketball.

Jim O'Connor-US Presswire

But it’s funny when we think that LeBron James is doing something smart but not taking any threes like he was doing at the beginning of the season. All he was doing was not shooting threes but leading the NBA in long two-point attempts, shooting around seven per game and making only 40 percent of them. If James shot 30 percent on three-pointers, that is a more efficient rate.

As far as I’m concerned, the greatest strength of James is his strength. He shows this off on fast breaks with his dunks but even more so with the ease with which he tosses up 30-foot shots. I have a feeling that if James completely stopped taking two-point jump shots and just backed up to the three-point line and totally focused on that, that he’d become even more efficient in a way.

It’s amazing that every team that was won titles in the last 20 years or so has had one of their best players being someone that takes a lot of bad shots. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki are the best examples of this. A championship team needs someone that can basically post-up from 17 feet and make a few dribbles and throw up a fadeaway. But this kind of makes no sense.

I am guilty of this too when I ranked the best players in the NBA at the start of the season by player-types I valued this type of player over anyone else in terms of being needed to win championships. I called for James, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant to not shoot threes anymore and instead start posting up from 15-feet in and take worse shots.

If you really think about it there is one team out there that one championships playing a more efficient style of offense than the teams with Jordan and Bryant: the San Antonio Spurs.

Jim O'Connor-US Presswire

The Spurs surrounded Tim Duncan (the best post player in the league at the time of his titles) with a great penetrating point guard in Tony Parker, good defenders and three-point shooters and then the epitome of efficiency Manu Ginobili.

I think Ginobili is really the key here. He is a player that can make threes at a 40 percent rate and can drive to the basket at will in an unorthodox way getting to the line and finishing as well. The numbers say a player like this is the perfect player to have.

James Harden is the next player like this. He comes from the Ginobili-mold and is blossoming into a star this year. A time will come in the playoffs this year when the Thunder need to call on Harden to step up and take over and they will need him to do it with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook standing around the three-point line spotting up.

Will the Thunder be able to make this decision when they need to? Can head coach Scott Brooks look Durant and Westbrook in the eye and tell them to give the ball to Harden and get out of the way?