Welcome to the 2016 NBA Western Conference Finals



We thought we were going to be gifted a chessmatch series between two historically-talented teams. It was time, after Popovich 'purposely losing' in the regular season to conceal his bag of tricks, to see what would be unleashed against Curry.



Well, tough luck. The Thunder have decided to smuck all that up by defeating the 67-win Spurs on their home court twice. Who saw that coming? Not 2+2, that's for sure.



Some say this is a shame for the game of basketball. Anatta would advise us to let go and move on, young grasshopper. It's ripe for a new narrative and it's one, upon further inspection, that might not be so bad. Don't be like Baltimore Jones.

Come and take a seat.




These are the teams.

Fun Fact:
GSW and OKC are #1 & #2 in points per game in the regular season

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THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER



The Thunder are young and athletic and long and energetic. They have two top-5 players on their team. Their upset win has filled them with momentum, they are playing in fine form, and for the first time in years, healthy. They are also rid of Scottie Brooks. Some doubted first year coach Billy Donovan but he showed chops by defeating Popovich in a series. It took a Kyle Singler injury to bench him but Billy's finally got it. It's in good time.



As the season series stands, the Thunder are down in the hole 0-3. Don't let that fool you, though. OKC was tied or winning in the 4th quarter in all of those games. Remember the second game? The one where Durant fouled out and then...



No one knows that games are 48 minutes long better than the Thunder this season. They who have been just terrible closing out games in the regular season. But we also just watched them stick out some gritty wins over the Spurs. Has this team, so reckless and fun when they lost to Cleveland, finally turned the curve and matured?

Fun Fact:
This series has the last three scoring champions. 2016 Curry (30.1ppg), 2015 Westbrook (28.1ppg), 2014 Durant (32ppg).

Let's meet the team.

Kevin Durant


Durant is the leading scorer in the playoffs and he's scorched on the Warriors this season. It's a small sample size but Durant's averaged 36.3/12.0/6.3/2 through three games. He'll probably need to keep this up and break his playoff career high of 41 this series if they hope to win. Of course, a lot of this will depend on whether his friend will be willing to give him the ball...

Russell Westbrook


Will we see Pass-guard Westbrook? Or will we get Westbrick? RWB has had some terrible games but then again, he's had some great games this playoff. Of the players left, RWB is 3assist/game up on them. He's also leading them in turnovers. Which side will come out? Whichever it is, Durant and the rest of the team have made it clear: they will live by Bestbrook, die by Worstbrook.

The Stash Bros


If the Thunder are worried about the Splash Bros, the Warriors will have to think long and hard about the Stash Bros. Standing erect at 7 feet and 6'11", Billy Donovan has experimented putting both these men in at the same time. On offence, Adams is a powerful crasher and Kanter has delicate hands for the finish. When they come together to attack the boards against the Spurs, they managed to win a lot of extra possessions. Remember, the Thunder led rebounds this season. How will the Warriors' small balls adjust if these two decide to pack the paint?

The Rest of the Cast:




-- Will Ibaka sink his mid-range and provide rim-protection?
-- Can Andre Roberson slow Curry down? Will he get the Tony Allen treatment?
-- What can Dion Waiters bring to the table?

BONUS:




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THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS



It's been a fun season for the Warriors. The 73-9, the back-to-back MVP's, all that is Draymond Green. That said, this Thunder team might be the most talented opponents Steve Kerr and his team has ever faced in the post-season. Are these guys worried?

Steph Curry


The unanimous MVP. There was a moment, you might remember, when we all worried whether the 2016 playoffs would be forever tarnished.



Slipping on Montejunas's ass sweat, Mr. Curry suffered a MCL sprain that took him out for two weeks. We thought it'd be trouble for GSW facing the Clipp- Trail Blazers and whether he would be back in time for the Spur- Thunder. Considering he decided to drop 17 points in OT, you might say that he's got more WIM than that other MVP point guard that suffered some leg injury for his number one seed team in the first round who has children to care for....



He's here! He's back!

Klay Thompson


How high can we get? We saw that Klay was capable of working even when Curry is out. He's shooting .475% from three this post-season and averaging 27+ points a game. I'm sure he prefers the good life with Curry back in, though.

Draymond Green


How many Technical Fouls will Draymond Green not get? How many moving screens will he get away with? How wide can he open his mouth?

The Rest of the Cast:





-- Will Bogut be able to play and help his team in the paint?
-- Iguodala has been relatively quiet. What will we see from him?
-- Can Livingston run a second offence? Will he try to post-up Westbrook?

BONUS



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