2016 Western Conference Semifinals
San Antonio 91, Oklahoma City 95
Thunder lead series 3-2

Grab. The. Damn. Ball.

There’s a nice bit of irony at work here that in a season when the Spurs zagged against prevailing trends by doubling down on post play and a more traditional style, it’s the Thunder’s ability to go extra big that might run them out of the playoffs. One might think that the Spurs’ emphasis this season would lead to an increased rebounding ability. And yet every time the ball clanks off of the rim in this series, I just assume it’ll end up in the hands of Oklahoma City.

The Spurs’ defense has mostly been excellent…except for that whole ‘finishing the possession’ thing. Here’s a fun fact: in the last 6 minutes of the game, the Spurs collected a grand total of two rebounds. You read that right: two. Even when they stopped the Thunder’s initial action, it almost inevitably led to an easy putback layup for an OKC big man.

If you look at the numbers, the Thunder only had 5 more offensive rebounds than the Spurs did. That’s not bad, right? It’s just that the Thunder maximized each of those rebounds, and completely dominated the Spurs in the final minutes of the game, with the result still very much in doubt.

Truthfully, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the Spurs look worse in end of game situations. (I’m sure I have, but let me have my hyperbole.) We can grouse all we want about a lot of things that seem unfair (really bizarre officiating that has hurt the Spurs at crucial times), but the truth is that the Spurs are coming up small when the Thunder are coming up big.

I’ve seen Pop take some criticism in the wake of Games 4 and 5, and I’m sure there are decisions he’d like to have back. But he can’t make Parker, West, Duncan, Aldridge, or Mills magically find their shots or their confidence. He can’t force Diaw and West to play big in the paint and actually secure defensive rebounds. He can’t magically make Duncan 28 again. He can’t control when Westbrook’s irrationally confident shots suddenly start falling at an alarming clip.

There’s been chatter that Boban should get some playing time. Clearly, though, Pop doesn’t trust him with the moment, rightly or wrongly. Keep in mind, that while Boban is huge, he is slow of foot and actually isn’t a wonderful defensive rebounder. Adams and Kanter in particular would probably be able to still grab offensive rebounds with him in. Either way, he’s an end-of-the-bench rookie and those rarely swing playoff series between two great teams.

Playoff series usually come down to who can control the 5 feet in front of the rim and who can win the 3-point line. Right now, the Spurs are losing both. Badly. The team is afraid of Adams, Ibaka, and Kanter in the paint on one end, and can’t control them on the other. Take away Danny’s 6-of-9 shooting from 3, and the rest of the team is 2-of-8. Neither of those numbers is big enough.

The beautiful game is gone, may it live on in our hearts and minds forever. The offense is rather basic, slow, and predictable. We have excellent offensive talents, but it still hasn’t congealed into a complete offensive game. When Aldridge’s shot is off and players like Mills are gun-shy and/or missing most of their shots, the offense is really bad.

Despite his monumental gains, Kawhi is still a work in progress on offense. Because he has improved so much, we take for granted that he still has so far to go. He is a great offensive talent, but he is not a natural offensive player. Durant is a natural offensive player. Kawhi still feels rote, trained. This is not a knock. But in the crunch time of close games, he often lacks the pure offensive ability to get an easy shot.

His goal this offseason should be to master the pick-and-roll (he and Aldridge could be deadly) and to speed up. Too often, the offense doesn’t even start until about 12 seconds into the possession, and it’s a lot of one-on-one jockeying. If that action goes nowhere, it’s up to players that aren’t suited to the task to create good looks late in the shot clock.

Perhaps this was just a bad shooting night. Though most of the shots are midrange jumpers, many of them were wide open and the Spurs just missed them. But if you watch the team night in and night out, you just know intuitively that the offense isn’t right. The defense can only carry the team so far. (Which is a very short distance without rebounding.)

Maybe the Spurs are just an excellent regular season team that still need to figure out how they fit in the postseason. Remember, the ‘legend’ of the Spurs is built mostly on players that are on their way out of the league and are no longer nightly contributors. The Spurs maximize advantages and talent in the regular season, but seem to lack another gear to get to in the post-season, a gear the Thunder seem to find on a somewhat consistent basis.

This series reminds of the Clippers series from last season. Too many players coming up small at the wrong moment while the opposing team seems to be clicking in a way they haven’t all season. The Thunder are getting positive contributions from everywhere, even from players that are often viewed as laughing stocks. The Clippers won a game because of Austin freaking Rivers. I look around at the Spurs’ roster and wonder who I trust in the big moments. The number seems to get smaller each game.

But the Clippers’ series also provides a path out of this. Because as dispiriting as these last two games have been, the margin in this series is still razor thin, and the Spurs still have the ability to beat the Thunder on any given night or any given two nights. Remember, the Spurs were coming home for Game 6 last year up 3-2 and feeling great. Most in the national media had already given them the series. There’s no way the Spurs would lose twice at home in one series.

So now the Spurs have to channel their inner-Clippers (chalk that up to something I thought I’d never write). It’s frustrating to lose two home games in a row after losing only one all season. It’s frustrating to watch this Thunder team that in many ways has been the Spurs’ greatest foil over the last few seasons seem to get the best of them again. It’s frustrating to be on the verge of elimination after such an impressive season. It’s frustrating to do so playing a brand of basketball you hardly recognize. It’s frustrating to know that these might be the final games of the original Big 3 as we know them.

But it’s not over. There’s a game Thursday night, and for 48 minutes we’ll watch the Spurs play the Thunder. Everything that has come before and everything that is to come after will have little bearing. The players will play, and we’ll cheer.

And hopefully we’ll get to do it all again on Sunday.

Go Spurs Go.