Shootout begins for top western teams
As far as the winning streak is concerned, it doesn’t exist for us. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
THE San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, having stormed through the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs, begin their duel for the Western Conference crown tomorrow.
The Western Conference finals, with a berth in the NBA championship series at stake, pits the West’s top two teams against each other.
The Thunder, the dominant force in the West for much of the season, saw the Spurs assume that mantle with a late-season winning streak of 18 games.
The Spurs, home of Australian point guard Patty Mills, finished off the regular season with 10 successive victories before sweeping past the Utah Jazz and then the Los Angeles Clippers to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2008.
The young Thunder squad led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook dispatched defending NBA champions Dallas in the first round, and the 2010 champions Los Angeles Lakers in the second.
San Antonio host game one of the best-of-seven series, a week after the Spurs finished off the Clippers in a game four in which Tim Duncan led six Spurs players in double figures with 21 points and nine rebounds.
The Spurs’ last defeat was an April 11 setback against the Lakers.
But San Antonio, who won four titles from 1999 through 2007, know the streak counts for nothing if they don’t advance. They were top seeds in the West last year when Memphis stunned them in the first round.
‘‘As far as the winning streak is concerned, it doesn’t exist for us,’’ Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ‘‘Each game is its own and we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t come up and it’s not even on the radar for us.’’
What the Spurs will draw on is their wealth of post-season experience. Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have played 130 playoff games as teammates.
Popovich’s 116 career postseason wins are third all-time among coaches behind Phil Jackson (229) and Pat Riley (171).
‘‘They know that if they just stick with each other and the system that often times things are going to turn your way,’’ Popovich said of his big three.
The match-up between point guards Westbrook and Parker will be key. Rising star Westbrook has the advantage in size, and is a dangerous scorer as well as a facilitator for Durant.
Parker, however, boasts dazzling quickness and scoring ability and a wealth of experience in creating plays for his teammates.