The San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder are like the San Francisco Giants: They create a big postseason storyline every even year.
The Giants have won the last three even-year World Series, but in the NBA, the Thunder and Spurs have now established a pattern in even-numbered years as well. No, it’s not just that these teams meet in the playoffs; it’s that when they do clash, the Spurs have home-court advantage, and each series is knotted up after four games.
In 2012, the Western Conference Finals were locked at 2-2. In Game 5 in San Antonio, the Thunder made the breakthrough which ushered them to the first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history:
The 2014 West Finals also arrived at a 2-2 crossroads, and this time, the Spurs — ever mindful of what had happened in their home building two years earlier — demolished the Thunder to take a 3-2 series lead. In a thrilling Game 6 — with Tony Parker sitting in the second half and overtime due to injury — the Spurs found enough resources to fend off Oklahoma City and avenge the bitter setback they absorbed in 2012:
The even-year pattern of 2-2 Spurs-Thunder series was in jeopardy Sunday night in Oklahoma City, but Kevin Durant — immersed in a whirlwind of speculative noise regarding his and the OKC franchise’s future — threw down 17 points in a 6-for-6 fourth quarter, part of a 29-point second half which carried the Thunder to a season-saving 111-97 victory:
Kevin Durant ties his playoff career-high with 41 on #MothersDay… to even up #SPURSvTHUNDER 2-2! https://t.co/PjNiWwHgs7
— NBA (@NBA) May 9, 2016
Once more, with feeling, the Thunder and Spurs gather at the intersection of triumph and disaster, squared at 2-2 as a playoff series returns to the Alamo City for Game 5.
Will the Game 5 winner move to 3-0 in these confrontations?
Will we get a Game 7 between these teams for the first time?
Those are perhaps the most immediate questions to come to mind in an historical comparison between this series and its two predecessors. Yet, the tension points evoked by this latest 2-2 series run much deeper than those relatively superficial queries.
The shadow of Scott Brooks hangs over this best-of-seven series, which has now become a best-of-three. Everything Oklahoma City does — or doesn’t do — under Billy Donovan is being compared (and will continue to be compared) to the Brooks years. The particularly fascinating possibility which hangs in the air is that the Thunder could win this series. If they do, OKC’s 2012 series victory would be replicated, but the full story would be so much more substantial.
If you recall the backdrop to the 2012 West Finals, the Spurs had won 18 straight games heading into the series, making the number 20 after they rolled to a 2-0 lead by capturing the first two games in San Antonio. The 2012 Spurs swept each of their first two playoff series and had therefore carried a 10-0 playoff record into Game 3. The Thunder’s ability to win four straight games against San Antonio registered as a Thunder-bolt. The fact that OKC won the series wasn’t staggering; winning four straight after being down 2-0 is what threw many observers (including this one) off balance.
The kicker? Scott Brooks won those four straight games. The coaching matchup few expected to cut in the Thunder’s direction provided a jarring plot twist in the 2012 playoffs.
This is what brings us to 2016 and the latest 2-2 series between these rivals in oil country.
After Game 1, when Oklahoma City didn’t give a damn on defense, it was very easy — and entirely logical — to conclude that Billy Donovan was in over his head. Sure, the Spurs drowned the Thunder in an ocean of splashdowns, but the unending waves of made baskets flowed from effective actions, which in turn created wide-open shots against an unresponsive defense. The extent of the Spurs’ efficiency might have been aberrational, but the Thunder’s effort fell well short of any reasonable standard.
Yes, we can see in context — with the benefit of hindsight — that the Thunder suffered the proverbial “one bad day” in Game 1. However, OKC’s inconsistency over the course of the season offered more than a little reason to think that the Thunder weren’t going to get it right at the defensive end of the floor.
Yet, that’s exactly what has happened in this series over the past three games.
Dion Waiters has been consistently good. So has Steven Adams. Enes Kanter is a much more credible defender right now — not a fully-formed product, but capable of playing crunch-time minutes without getting shredded on defense, as we saw in Game 4 on Sunday night. The relationship between Donovan and the KD-Russ tandem receives most of the scrutiny in Oklahoma City and around the league, as it always and inevitably will. Yet, the Thunder have to coax enough production from their supporting cast — especially at the defensive end — in order to stand up to the Spurs and their depth.
Donovan is doing just that with Waiters, Adams and Kanter. Billy D is improving Oklahoma City’s D by inspiring the consistent effort level the Thunder have often lacked this season.
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The 2016 edition of a 2-2 Spurs-Thunder series could abruptly halt a San Antonio season marked by periods of pronounced dominance. Oklahoma City could upset the Spurs one series after San Antonio swept through an inferior playoff opponent. The latest OKC-SAS playoff series could produce a playoff exit for Gregg Popovich against a coach which didn’t figure to get the better of him.
On the other hand, the Spurs could recall the memory of 2014 and reclaim their footing as the proud champions they are. They won Game 6 two years ago without Tony Parker in the fray; this year, they’ll have to win without extended minutes from Tim Duncan, who simply doesn’t seem to have a place on the floor in this series.
Spurs. Thunder. A 2-2 series in an even year. These familiar foes have come to a fork in the road. As Yogi Berra would say, which team will take it?
