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San Antonio Spurs, The Better Team in the Western Conference Finals
Team Basketball beat individual ability; Old Guard beating New Guard. The San Antonio Spurs simply played better as a team, with Manu Ginobili stepping up to carry them when it got rough, while the Oklahoma City Thunder simply lost the game because they played like a group of guys with nothing in common but the jersey.
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Manu Ginobili Produces Fourth Quarter Magic (Thunder vs Spurs)
Manu Ginobili rested for two series, not needing to show off his brilliance too much during two sweeps. Down by 9, with Tony Parker struggling and Tim Duncan needing someone to create for him, Popovich turned to Ginobili, who came through with his best game in the 2012 NBA postseason, leading the Spurs to a 101-98 win over the Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
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Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook Ready to Make Thunder the New Western Conference Dynasty
Usually, when young teams rise in hope for contending for the NBA title, they have to go through the old guard. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant didn’t just go through the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. They ripped them to pieces, en route to meet the San Antonio Spurs.
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Kobe Bryant Faces Reality – Lakers Aren’t That Good
Kobe Bryant and the Lakers have been here before. Five years ago to be exact. They know they have one great player, but the team around him, built to grant him yet another championship ring, isn’t good enough, and crumbled around him in the few moments he tried to get a breather.
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Kobe Bryant Can’t Beat Durant & Westbrook in a Duel
Kobe Bryant scoring 38 points and the rest of the starting five in double figures. Sounds awfully familiar to Game 3. On the other side, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 68 points, the Thunder’s defense clamped up in crunch time and Durant showed Bryant how it’s done when the game’s on the line.
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Kobe Bryant Gives Lakers Some Breathing Room
Kobe Bryant was, well, what you expect from Bryant after two losses, especially at home. Deadly efficient, clutch, close to unstoppable. When Bryant gets angry but remains focused, this is how it goes. He finished with 36 points while shooting a perfect 18-18 from the line, giving the Lakers a bit more breathing room with a 99-96 win.
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The Game That Lost the Lakers Their Series Against the Thunder
Andrew Bynum hit a nice shot over Kendrick Perkins with just over two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Los Angeles Lakers were up 75-68 in a very low scoring affair in Oklahoma City. Two minutes later, the Lakers were still at 75, Kevin Durant just put the Thunder in the lead. The Lakers are down 0-2, with the chances of overturning looking grim.
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Thunder That Good; Lakers This Bad?
No one was surprised that the Oklahoma City Thunder won Game 1, at home against the Los Angeles Lakers. But by 29 points? Without anything too special from Durant, Westbrook, Harden or anyone else? Is that really the gulf between the two teams.
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James Harden Can Be the Hero for the Thunder Sometimes
James Harden isn’t an All-Star like his two more prolific teammates, Westbrook and Durant, but his ability to score coming off the bench is just as important to the Thunder’s success. It was his scoring (29 points) that put his team back in the game, en route to a 103-97 win and a dominant sweep over the 2011 NBA Champions, the Dallas Mavericks.
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LeBron Loves New York; Durant Destroys Dallas
LeBron James usually has big games in New York. Maybe it’s the Knicks’ fans, maybe it’s the Knicks themselves. Maybe it’s just occasion of playing in the Madison Square Garden. It wasn’t any different in Game 3, leading the Miami Heat to a 87-70 and a 3-0 lead in the First round series, scoring 32 points.