Tag: James Harden

Spurs embarrassed the right amount

Column by Buck Harvey

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Thunder plugged into energy, desperation, and a man named Thabo.

James Harden stared at Tiago Splitter, and the Spurs stared at the floor. About the time Patty Mills checked in, the winning streak looked so wobbly, it needed one of Tim Duncan’s knee braces for support.

The flow of energy is sometimes mysterious in the NBA, but sometimes it is predictable, too. And while Thursday it was the Thunder’s turn, the Spurs got what they wanted from their first loss in 50 days.

Getting embarrassed can be a good thing.

All of it is new to the Spurs, who forgot how these things feel. But this wasn’t the streak of Wooden’s UCLA that was broken Thursday. It was an NBA streak, and they never last too long.

They never last long, either, when the energy divide is as severe as it was. And something Scott Brooks said afterward told of that.

“That was as well,” he said, “as you can play against the best team in basketball.”

The best team in basketball? The Thunder wanted to prove that wasn’t true.

“We never thought these guys had an advantage over us,” Kevin Durant said Thursday, “even though we lost a few.”

It’s an attitude based on more than bravado. The Thunder played well in the opener, taking a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, then made Game 2 interesting with a late surge.

The Thunder are exactly what the Spurs coaches thought they were before the series began — scary good. And scarier for the Spurs is to let this series become tied heading back to San Antonio for a Game 5.

But the Spurs, no matter how hard they tried, couldn’t create this same kind of fear in their locker room, not after 20 straight wins. Maybe, too, they began to believe this best-team-in-basketball stuff.

So they were overwhelmed, and Gregg Popovich summed up how it happened. “I think they played smarter than we did,” he said of the Thunder, “and I think they played harder than we did.”

Smarter and harder usually wins, and sloppy never does. The Thunder ended with just seven turnovers, and one of those came at the end when Derek Fisher dribbled out the clock to be sportsmanlike.

The Spurs? They are supposed to be the smart, veteran team, and they looked closer to a team that had lost 20 in a row, with 21 turnovers.

A signpost of how much this series had reversed itself came in the third quarter. Then, Manu Ginobili made a slick behind-the-back pass to Tony Parker, who hit a three. The same sequence happened in Game 2, also in the third quarter, also with a behind-the-back pass for a Parker three.

The difference: The three put the Spurs up by 20 on Tuesday, and after this one, the Spurs trailed by 19.

Brooks moving Thabo Sefolosha to Parker helped OKC, and Sefolosha thought his length bothered Parker. But Parker has been defended by taller players before, and Brooks didn’t see that as the difference.

“I thought Thabo did a good job,” Brooks said, “but I thought the biggest adjustment — we played better.”

It’s that simple? Sometimes, in the NBA, it is. At home, where they hadn’t lost this postseason, facing a 0-3 deficit if they had lost, shouldn’t the Thunder have been breathing fire?

The Spurs couldn’t recreate that, no matter how many I-want-some-nasty speeches Popovich gave. And so now comes a telling moment in the series.

The Spurs lost only one game, but it felt like more than that. The Thunder so swarmed them, so took them out of what they do, that the Spurs were emotionally slapped.

This is what Popovich is leaning on: After Harden was staring and Patty playing, the energy for Game 4 should be equal.

bharvey@express-news.net
Twitter: @Buck_SA

SPURS VS. THUNDER
Western Conference finals
(Spurs lead best-of-7 series 2-1)

Game 1:

Game 2:

Game 3:

Game 4: Saturday – Spurs @ Thunder, 7:30 p.m. TNT

Game 5: Monday – Spurs vs. Thunder, 8:00 p.m. TNT

*Game 6: Wednesday – Spurs @ Thunder, 8:00 p.m. TNT

*Game 7: Friday – Spurs vs. Thunder, 8:00 p.m. TNT

– All times Central
*If necessary

Fear the beards: Is James Harden the next Manu?

They say a comparison might be the sincerest form of flattery. 

If so, Manu Ginobili is only adding to his legend as one of the most notable players of his era.

ESPN.com’s David Thorpe makes a pretty convincing case that the collective grouping of Ginobili’s unique abilities makes him one of the best players in the league.

Here’s what Thorpe:

“In many respects, Ginobili is basketball’s version of what a “Moneyball” player looks like. He’s too skinny; he isn’t explosively athletic enough to be a classic shooting guard; and he doesn’t look like a prolific scorer. He also falls down a lot and plays awkwardly when compared to a classic guard.

“Most old-school scouts seek exactly the opposite from their 2-guards, a major reason why Ginobili was not drafted until the 57th selection in 1999. And that was after already proving to be one of the best young players in Europe and winning a title in the top Italian league. But as evidenced by his titles and his production, Ginobili is an analyst’s dream because his sum is so much better than his individual parts.”

Thorpe sees third-year Oklahoma City guard/forward James Harden as a similar player.

“Harden reminds many of Ginobili because of his average-looking athleticism that gives way to an occasional monster dunk that foreshadows his future if he tried to make athletic plays more often.

“Remember that as Harden enters his third NBA season, he is three years younger than Ginobili was as a rookie, so the Ginobili we’ve seen play with nuanced craft is far past his peak athletic years. Harden plays with tremendous poise and pace, and as he seasons, he could add more excitement to his game, the way Ginobili can be electric with the ball when his team needs him most.”

It’s a nice comparison for both players. And Thorpe has an interesting take on the unique skills of two key players for  two of the league’s best teams.

Trust us: Harden’s series-changing sixth foul doesn’t hold a candle to this

Oklahoma City guard James Harden fouled out with 4:34 remaining in the fourth quarter of Monday’s Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against Dallas. His team was safely ahead by 11 points with a change at a series split an almost foregone conclusion.

But his absence was too much for the Thunder couldn’t overcome — even with the big late lead.   

The young Thunder collapsed one of their top offensive threats as Dallas clamped down on Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and escaped with a wild 112-105 overtime victory over the Thunder.

But it wasn’t the only thing that happened to Harden Monday night.

Oklahoma City fan Meghan Dailey took her devotion for Harden to great lengths, wearing a wedding dress with the second-year forward’s cutout face stenciled into the pleat of her dress below the knee.

She also carried a cutout head of Harden with “Harden My Heart” scrawled below it. For good measure, her veil was constructed of basketball netting.

Needless to say, Dailey caught a lot of attention, both outside the Oklahoma City Arena and inside it once the game began about her favorite player. It even got her some national television time during Monday’s game broadcast on ESPN.

Her picture has already on dozens of blog sites, although I haven’t read any comments specifically from her about her upcoming nuptuals. 

Or if she was merely advertising to marry Harden.  

But after last night, it might appear that there is a curse involving teams whose fans wear wedding dresses to the game that far outreaches not wearing something borrowed or blue in a wedding ceremony.

The Thunder never trailed when Harden was in the lineup. As soon as he fouled out, the Thunder collapsed as Dallas claimed a series-changing victory in one of the most remarkable comebacks in NBA playoff history.

We can only hope that similar problems don’t follow Dailey if and when she ever walks down the ais

Oklahoma City fan Meghan Dailey walks into the Oklahoma City Arena before Monday’s playoff game against Dallas. (Photo by Getty Images).

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