Golden State Warriors Versus Oklahoma City Thunder: Western Conference Finals Preview


Who is ready for the Golden State Warriors versus the Oklahoma City Thunder series? Anyone who expected the NBA’s Western Conference Finals to involve the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs will be slightly disappointed, for now. Instead of being upset, fans can relax as they will be treated to the best possible matchup in the NBA Playoffs thus far.

The stars have aligned for the Western Conference Finals. One would be hard pressed to deny the star power in the Warriors versus Thunder series. There are five all-stars, one borderline star player in Serge Ibaka and two of the most recent recipients for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award. Among the top six players in the series, three of them are ranked in the league’s top-five. That is enough for anyone to get over their Spurs’ hangover.

How the Warriors and Thunder match up against each other can possibly eclipse the star power in their pairing.

Throw out the season series where you saw the Golden State Warriors sweep all three games against Oklahoma City. All of the games that were played had OKC with the lead going into the fourth quarter. A couple of key defensive stops here, grabbing a rebound or two there and a handful of hustle plays would have changed the complexity of the season for both teams. After vanquishing San Antonio in six games, the Thunder appear to have the confidence needed to pull off a mind stunner against a dominant yet vulnerable Warriors’ team.

Sure, Golden State did win an NBA record of 73 games. They did so with ease on most occasions. Injuries are beginning to catch up to them. The knee injury to Stephen Curry came at a favorable moment in the playoff schedule. He suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain (courtesy of USA Today) in the Game 4 of the first round. Curry returned out of necessity in Game 4 of the Portland series, and he did not appear to labor once he returned.

Is Stephen Curry close to 100 percent? Not in the slightest. According to Larry Brown Sports, Curry admitted that his knee had not improved much.

While Steph Curry did not show any signs of slippage due to injury. The Warriors needed every single basket Curry made in order to put the Portland Trailblazers to rest in five games. After Game 1 there were no concerns. Game 2 was a dogfight early. In Game 3 it became the Damian Lillard show. The rigors of the playoffs started to show in Games 4 and 5. Each game had Steph Curry and the Warriors victorious.

The Oklahoma City Thunder presents a far different challenge for the Warriors than what the Spurs could ever muster.

Athletically, the Thunder are in a class by themselves. And it was on display in their first two playoff series. Oklahoma City is built similarly to the Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp-led Seattle Supersonic teams of the 1990’s in terms of athleticism, rebounding and speed. The only difference is that Kevin Durant is smooth as a scorer, whereas Kemp wowed fans with his power. Those qualities can be said for guard Russell Westbrook.

Who wins this series is going to come down to the x-factors of both teams. It is Andre Iguodala for the Warriors and Dion Waiters for the Thunder.

According to the Washington Post, Iguodala’s defensive duties will be to slow down Kevin Durant. Expect him to alternate between Durant and Russell Westbrook. That is no small feat for any player. Even for a player with his prowess. He does not have to completely shut down whichever player he is guarding, but he must make life as miserable as he possibly can.

If the Warriors want to add a wrinkle to their game plan, it will be to use Iguodala as a secondary ball-handler in an effort to lessen the load for Steph Curry on offense. Iguodala has the ability to draw the defense near the paint. This could open up chances for the shooters to get free shots.

In the case of Dion Waiters, he needs to be the third scoring option when he is on the floor with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. When Waiters performs well, the Thunder usually win. The statistics tell the full story.

In Oklahoma City’s 53 regular season victories, Waiters averaged 10.9 points a game. He had the advance numbers of 18.7 percent usage rate and.534 true shooting percentage. In the 25 losses, those numbers dip to 7.4 points, 16.2 usage rate and.393 true shooting. When Dion Waiters gets going, the Thunder are difficult to beat. This makes the Warriors and Thunder series more enticing.

The Western Conference Finals pairing is not what most people expected, but the Golden State Warriors versus the Oklahoma City Thunder will perhaps be the best series in all of the NBA Playoffs.

[Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]

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