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Time to panic? Probably. The San Antonio Spurs have now lost two consecutive games to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it doesn’t seem like they’re handling the return of Serge Ibaka very well, which has also made Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook play like the superstars they are., resulting in too many memes making fun of how old they are.

Gregg Popovich is shouting at the referees and at Tim Duncan, sometimes for good reason. The Oklahoma City Thunder might be getting some sort of advantage from referees, but that’s not why the Thunder have won the last two games. They simply have too many mismatches working in their favor, while the Spurs seem a bit overwhelmed with playing away from home and the athleticism and speed suddenly coming into play.

Serge Ibaka has turned this thing around, and just like for the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA playoffs, the return of the team’s third best player has turned a series completely around. Then it was Chris Bosh who came through for the Miami Heat, and now it’s Ibaka making that kind of difference on both ends of the floor for the Thunder.

Popovich might be appreciated by everyone, but he is making mistakes along with his players that are playing like an inferior team for two consecutive games. If he, along with his players, don’t find something beyond relying on the home court to pick this team up, we’re going to go through 2012 all over again.

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