NBA: Can Anyone in the West Stop the Thunder?

The Oklahoma City Thunder went down in Miami on Wednesday night but they remain the class of the Western Conference. Al Dannity assesses the chances of a team other than the Thunder making it out of the West and into the NBA Finals.

The loaded veterans
The one thing the San Antonio Spurs lack is an explosion of youth, with all respect to the versatile Kawhi Leonard. They’ve managed to win NBA championships while leaning on veteran rosters before and they can’t be discounted this post-season. The Spurs have some big positives. Tim Duncan’s minutes are being managed well. The injury situation is clear entering the final stretch of the season. Tony Parker has played at near MVP levels for much of the season. Last, but by no means least, the bench remains loaded. The hanging concern is last year’s early exit from the post-season. The spry look to this year’s edition of the Spurs, even more so than last season’s, gives reason to believe they can challenge in the post-season.

The match-up nightmare
Every great warrior needs an adversary that can test him to his very limit. The source of that test is not always obvious. That’s what the Thunder found out last season when the Grizzlies pushed them all the way to Game 7 in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. Memphis will be back in the post-season this year and could potentially meet OKC at the same stage in the playoffs again. It’s not that Memphis has the best or deepest team in the West, far from it. What the Grizzlies have is a style tremendously suited to the playoffs, and the kind of players who can test Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka. NBA Basketball betting fans know that nobody wants to face Memphis in the post-season, least of all the Thunder.

The rest
Despite their recent run, the Clippers look like a team poised for first-round disappointment in the playoffs. The talent is there but they lack the poise required to really scare anyone. The Lakers, despite beating the Clippers last night, don’t look anything like a contender this season. That likely leaves the Nuggets, Mavs, and Rockets as threats. Houston has proven tough to beat at home, the Mavericks have the tag of defending champions, and the Nuggets have plenty of talent. None of them however look capable of hurting Oklahoma City in the post-season. If a challenge to Durant’s road to the NBA Finals is to emerge in the conference, it will likely come from Memphis or San Antonio. Even for these teams, stopping the most exciting team in the game right now is going to be a big ask.

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