I am not typically one to get on my high horse about how professional officials do their job. But last night was a poorly officiated game and you wouldn't know that by looking at the box score. Both teams on the stat sheet committed twenty-one fouls. There were missed calls and soft whistles, both of those favored the Thunder. In a game with the magnitude of a conference finals game, this simply can not happen. The officials that are assigned to game three need to review the footage of game two and keep an eye out for similar instances in game three. For example, Hartenstein hooking Wemby under the basket, grabbing Castle's hair, Isaiah Joe flopping at the top of the key, SGA falling down after most of his shots, and plenty of other instances. Regardless, the Thunder made it out of game two with a win to tie the series. Let's talk about game two of the Western Conference Finals!
Oklahoma City Thunder DEF San Antonio Spurs 122-113 (WCF Tied 1-1)
These two teams are the best two teams in the league in my opinion and whoever comes out of this series with their life should win the NBA Finals. They continue to prove that game after game, last night was no different. The stars and role players from both squads played above their typical averages.
| Thunder | Spurs |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - 30 pts, 4 reb, 9 ast | Victor Wembanyama - 21 pts, 17 reb, 6 ast |
| Alex Caruso - 17 pts, 3 reb, 5 ast | Stephon Castle - 25 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast |
| Isaiah Hartenstein - 10 pts, 3 ast, 13 reb | Devin Vassell - 22 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast ; 6 3pt |
The first quarter was a high scoring slug fest. Both teams shot the ball above the league average from the field and from three. The Thunder shot at a sixty percent clip in the first quarter. The Spurs knocked down five threes, shooting fifty percent beyond the arc. The first quarter was back and forth with neither team able to possess a lead greater than five. The first quarter was a great look into how the next three quarters would go.
The Thunder came out hot to start the second quarter. Oklahoma City opened the quarter up with seven straight points. Caruso with five of the seven, Shai adding two points and an assist. That pattern would hold for the next six minutes of game play. Gilgeous-Alexander and Caruso either scored or assisted on the Thunder's first seventeen points of the second quarter. While the Thunder continued their sharp shooting the same couldn't be said for the Spurs. They went cold, ice cold. They shot a weak thirty-nine percent from the field and were not able to make a single three, missing all six of their three point attempts. The Spurs turned in their lowest scoring quarter of the series thus far scoring just twenty points. Oklahoma City took advantage of the poor San Antonio shooting taking a lead of eleven into half time.
Whatever pep talk Mitch Johnson gave the team before the start of the third quarter should be given before every quarter. The third quarter was a complete 180 from the second quarter. They shot sixty-four percent from the field, sixty-six percent from three knocking down six. And in direct contrast to the second quarter, in the third quarter they scored the most points in any quarter in the series, thirty-seven points. Wembanyama scored ten of his twenty-one points and pulled down seven of his seventeen rebounds in the third. Vassell scored half of his twenty-two points and made half of his six three pointers over the span of the third quarter. Unfortunately for the Spurs, the Thunder also had their highest scoring quarter of the series in the third. The Spurs still won the third quarter as the Thunder scored three less points, thirty-four. The third quarter ended with the Thunder's lead cut from eleven to eight.
The Spurs opened up the fourth quarter on a nine to three run to get within two of the lead in the first three minutes. That was the closest they would get to tying the Thunder for the rest of the game. Oklahoma City answered the Spurs run with a run of their own. In just two and a half minutes they scored eleven straight points to grow their lead to thirteen. Over the final six minutes of the fourth quarter both teams would exchange baskets before the final buzzer went off. Oklahoma City won the game 122-113 and evened the series at one game a piece heading back to San Antonio.
Game three will be Friday night at 8:30 pm on NBC. After watching the first two games of the series be dog fights, I expect nothing less on Friday night.
As always Who Dey & Go Redlegs!
Add comment
Comments