Western Conference Finals: (1) San Antonio vs. (2) Oklahoma City

el gnomo y u do dis?

 

Spurs =




No?

 

You think the refs have 3 more games in them? Obviously it wouldn't be a first, and I think they have at least one more game in them, but I think at some point they'll have to let the teams play and the Thunder are clearly inferior, especially with Ibaka gimped up.

 

Clearly inferior with ibaka out. Love the spurs, but reality is they haven't played a top 4 seed in the west at full strength in the last 2 years until last night. Great team, but they have been VERY fortunate with injuries and matchups the last 2 years.

 

Last night wasn't about a team being at full strength though, when the refs are calling touch fouls at one end of the court and allowing players to literally jump on the backs of players on the other without a whistle it's playing 5 on 8. That said, you're right, they have been very fortunate when it comes to matchups and all things equal, they'll win this matchup as well.....they just won't win it playing 5 on 8

 

Has any team in nba history made back to back wcf and nba finals without playing a top 4 seed at full strength? I doubt it....

 

Blaming the refs for last night is a joke. The Thunder outplayed the Spurs. There were a couple of calls that went the Thunder's way but it was no big rigging. Hell, the Thunder had more fouls called on them in the game (the end of the 4th does distort that though)


Anyone who thought the Spurs would just sweep the Thunder was dreaming. Game 4 will be a lot more interesting and indicative of where the series is going. The Spurs played terribly yesterday. Their defense was so undisciplined. The offense seemed jumpy with Ibaka back.

 

Sorry for doubt post....

Last night had everything to so with being at full strength. Spurs had 50 and 66 points in the paint the first 2 games and nowhere near that last night with ibaka.

 

I don't know, but I don't see how it would matter. Teams still get to come out of the East despite only having one team in the top 8 teams in the league in their entire conference. Luck has as much to do with teams making long runs in the playoffs of any sport as any other factor.

 

Didn't watch the game, but didn't OKC shoot 19 FTs in the 3rd quarter to the Spurs 0?

 

I honestly don't think anyone could have watched the game last night and not been able to tell that the refs were calling 2 separate games, one for the Thunder and one for the Spurs. Without the 22-0 quarter and the completely one sided beginning to the 4th the Thunder never get separation and probably are trailing at the end. I don't like either of these teams, so I'm not saying that with any bias.

Part of that is that one team was getting touch fouls, and the other could have defenders literally jumping on their backs without a whistle though.

 

it was 22-0

 

To be honest, the FT discrepancy is kinda blown out of proprotion...The Thunder were constantly attacking the rim against the Spurs, while the Spurs were settling for jump shots would any offensive rebounding. The Spurs were getting beat on the glass and turning the ball over, allowing the Thunder to get multiple shots. Sure there were some blown calls, but nothing that was significantly crazy...Im rooting for the Spurs to win the series, but I expected the Thunder to win with or without Ibaka yesterday. No one can with a straight face assume that this was gonna be a sweep without Ibaka...Kevin Durant and Westbrook are tremendous scorers that can flat carry their team. Yesterday was a desperate Thunder team that came out to play very well. Spurs fans have to be ancy considering that Kevin and Westbrook havent had their efficient scoring output games yet.

 

Blaming last night on the refs in silly. Spurs outplayed okc first 2 games, thunder won last night. Simple as that. Spurs did have the added benefit of no ibaka though

 

Not if you actually watched the game it's not. Again, I don't see how anyone could miss the different ways the game was called at each end of the court. Steven Adams literally jumped on Duncan's back at one point with no whistle while just about any missed shot by the Thunder was whistled for a foul. In the 3rd quarter the 0 FT's for the Spurs was every bit as obvious as the 22 FT's for the Thunder. I guess the NBA relies on fans who will just refuse to see when they rig games like this in order to get away with it for as long as they have.

 

Yup. 22 - 0.

The Thunder were constantly attacking and in the paint. They got into the bonus early and took advantage. It wasn't anything blatant. The Thunder looked like the better team all night. Spurs were playing really undisciplined. Kawhi especially.

 

Which means the Spurs were called for a minimum of 11 fouls in the 3rd quarter. They were called for 20 in the whole game, so that means 9 total in the other 3 quarters. Take out the 3rd quarter entirely, and OKC still outscored the Spurs, despite getting virtually no foul calls.

End of game: Spurs - 20 fouls. OKC - 24 fouls.

This whining about refs rigging games every time there are one or two bad calls is the height of childishness. Newsflash: there are a few bad calls on each team in every game. If that's all it takes for you to think a game is rigged, then every game might as well be rigged. The NBA is probably not for you.

 

Fair enough, the NBA needs people like you in order to get away with it. If you don't know basketball well enough to know the damage that can be done by the refs in just a little over a quarter of completely one sided calls then so be it. It must be blissful.