The showdown is here: #1 OKC will face #2 San Antonio in the WCF
https://www.nba.com/schedule
Spurs famously won the season series 4-1 but OKC have the championship experience and home court
With both teams being on fire over the last 2 months how do you see this series going?
I don’t think I’ve been this excited for a playoff series since Rockets/Warriors in 2018
This series has everything: MVPs on both teams. Legitimate bad blood between the players. Amazing talent is spread throughout each roster.
This is the first of many great battles between these two juggernauts
Wemby gonna headbutt Chet
Zidane style
Alex Caruso will front flip and slap mitch Johnsons butt
Dort.
Dort will decapitate Keldon
Dortapitation, if you will
Wouldn’t be a Thunder game if Chet didn’t get hit in the face lmao
Or at least act like it
Yessssss ramp it up! We need max toxicity by Monday and this is a good start
Im going to be super disappointed if it ends up a sweep or 4-1 in either direction
Either that or the winner gets swept by the Knicks š¤£
I would rather the Wemby average 100 points per game in the finals than the Knicks win
I simply can’t live in a world listening to Knicks fans after winning a title. Normally I lean underdog and almost always cheer for franchises that haven’t had major success in awhile, or ever, but I guess there’s exception for everything. And I draw my line at Knicks fans.
As a true hater, I will play both sides so that I always come out on top.
Iām excited to cheer for whoever lost the last game all series
respect
It’s been 10 years since they have played in the playoffs in 2016.
The Spurs won 67 games that year and they were destined for an epic clash of the titans against the 73 win Warriors in the WCF but OKC had other plans and knocked the Spurs out in the semis.
That series and last game was also Duncan’s last as he would retire after.
I still haven’t forgotten Serge Ibaka coming back from a supposed serious calf injury and hitting like 4 threes.
Also, it was painful to watch Timmy play against Steven Adams in that series. He was so obviously finished, it was tough.
I remember Serge was also injured in the 2014 WCF when we ended up losing you guys in six. At least for the first couple games.
We really played three times in five years.
Russ, KD, Andre Roberson, Serge and Steven Adams. What a fucking team man. And some guy coming off the bench.
Honestly too bad that that squad caught the very end of the Spurs run(2013⁄14 arguably the most dominant they ever were) and the beginning of the Warriors. Gods, the west was strong then.
Roberson. Dude had a quiet injury and never came back
Quiet? His knee exploded
And some guy coming off the bench.
I think he had a beard? Was it Grizzly Adams? No, but it will come to me eventually.
Serge was healthy and iirc played every game in 2016. He came back early from a calf injury in game 3 in the 2014 WCF.
He was clearly still affected by it and his defense suffered as a result. Not having a reliable, healthy paint defender was the reason OKC fell into a hole in the series that they would not be able to dig out of. Serge was hurt, Nick Collison played with rocks in his shoes, Adams was a rookie, and Timmy and Tiago were too dynamic for butt-ass Kendrick Perkins.
Can’t believe KD fucking went to warriors after that. He was better off going to the spurs. He weak AF.
Yeah he should’ve gone to the 67 win team instead of the 73 win team
At least the narrative wouldn’t be he joined a team that beat him.
Spurs didn’t have cap space, they only signed LMA a year earlier.
I cant believe how different he looked in just 1 year
He still look like an all star in 2015 and he was still good in the playoffs that year. Then he falls off a cliff a year later
If I remember correctly he was having issue in both knees by the end and gave it all he had till the wheels feel off like he said he would.
He maybe could have came back and gave a solid 10 minutes a night or rested up for the playoffs the next year but he likely was tired and had too much pride for that and rightfully so.
This is going to be a generational matchup
The game planning, counters and adjustments are gonna be so fun to watch
Too bad, itās just gonna be fouls posted here
What’s the bad blood? Just that wemby dislikes chet?
Itās really just between people on Reddit.Ā
Everyone watching is going to be rooting against your team. Itās not just Reddit. I fucking hate the Spurs after this series and I canāt wait to root for them to beat the Thunder.
Not me, I hope OKC wins in 4
J-Dub is my favorite non-Piston in the league.
Imagine being a fan of neither team and wanting a worse overall series lol
I wanna win so bad but 7 games of this shit would feed generations. The more the better.
To be fair thatās probably a real Pistonās fan. Thereās history between both your guysās teams. No such history between them and the Thunder
So if u make it to the finals you want to face a fully rested thunder team? I guess itās your opinionā¦
Come on spurs, save us wemby!!!
Is losing to OKC really that miserable? Because wow, the psychosis they induce
As someone who works in a Boston sports bar, everyone Iāve met REALLY wants yāall to lose. I imagine thatās the case with most neutrals.Ā
Wemby did get really performative in his interview after beating them in the IST but thereās not really anything too crazy
Wemby hating chet. That’s literally it lol
Sorry, MVPs on both teams? The Spurs dont have any MVPs right?
Itās gonna be funny as hell to see SGA get MVP then lose the series
Lmao I hope that happens
Gonna be funny as hell to see him win back to back MVPs and Larrys.
Which is not remotely uncommon.
Yeah this is like when PG referred to his “MVP seasom” which is when he finished 3rd in voting.
Nobody would say “NBA Champion matchup” for a Luka vs Haliburton face off.
Its a clear mirror of that. Spurs are the underdogs but they match up well with us just like the Rockets did against the Warriors
Whos an mvp on the spurs?
MTV’s Dan Cortese
āYou know Blackula? Well, this movie is about a Jewish Dracula.ā
āWhatās his name?ā
āSidney Applebaum.ā
Idk the pacers and OKC last year were pretty damn fun also nets vs bucks 2021
Who’s the MVP on the Spurs?
Technically only an MVP on one team
NBA Finals dropped early this year boys
Wouldn’t be so sure the knicks have been balling out
And I think they matchup relatively well against the Spurs, too.
I feel like there might be a rock-paper-scissors thing going where Spurs > Thunder > Knicks > Spurs
I thought of that comp like a week ago. Spurs matchup well against OKC, who matchup well against New York (depth is the Knicks biggest advantage over a lot of teams and OKCās depth is ridiculous), and the Knicks matchup well against the Spurs (KAT can draw Wemby out of the paint with his outside shooting, and while I like the defensive ability of the Spurs a lot, I feel like Brunson would be a problem for them.)
We also have an advantage with our wings vs theirs, and Robinson and Anunoby are great defenders to throw at Wemby
As a neutral fan can we just skip ECF and let Knicks just rest for a bit more? I dont see Pistons / Cavs beating anyone in the West
Letās see the Sochan v Wemby matchup. Either way our Polish prince gets a ring š„²
chet should be able to draw wemby out too but his shot takes three business days to launch so itās not like wemby needs to step out that much to clear the distance by the time chet is done pump faking
Spurs were up most of that cup game, but failed to close it out. Since then they’ve gotten better I don’t think the knicks beat whichever team comes out of the west
I mean the knicks have also significantly improved so no one really knows who’s better until they play each other. I think it’s 50⁄50
idk.
Like I realize it’s the east, but they look like a buzzsaw rn.
Kicks/spurs finals would be an all-timer
Thatās the Finals I wanna see. I donāt wanna see the Pistons or Cavs anywhere near the Finals (I think either team loses in five at most to OKC or SAS,) and I think the matchup between the Knicks and Spurs would be much more exciting than OKC and the Knicks. And I donāt even dislike SGA or the Thunder (outside of Dort) like everyone else, but the Spurs against Knicks would just be more exciting.
I dont want to face the Knicks, but an nba finals in MSG would be cinema for sure.
Also beat them in the NBA Cup
I normally ignore regular season results for the postseason picks, but fair.Ā
This is the Superbowl in the NFC championship all over again.
Rams vs. Seahawks of the NBA
Flashback to Kobe vs Timmy, generational guard vs generational big out west.
Funny because they called Tim boring and Kobe electrifying and now itās the opposite with Shai and Wemby
Less than 2 FTA/game difference between them, crazy.
Funny enough Kobe averaged 9 FTA a game his mvp season. Guess how many Shai is averaging this season?
90?
CORRECT. we love our facts here.
Except Shai plays like the āfunā all time guards like Kobe but people are in hysteria over fouls
Yeah thatās why thereās hysteria. The foul baiting is keeping him from being Kobe
How many times did Kobe play TD without Shaq? I think only 08 when the spurs werent really spursing. Kobe went nuclear in 01 tho so yeah youre right
The Spurs were literally the defending champs when Kobe beat them in 08 lol
Kobe went 18-12 vs Duncan across their playoff careers and averaged 28/6/5 across those 30 games.
Thatās kind of nuts lol
He played consistently well against the spurs in the playoffs. Especially when Shaq was playing bad or didnāt have to try as much, because Kobe would just dominate them.
They never played each other in the post season as the main man in their primes
Duncanās prime is 99-07 at the latest and Kobeās prime didnāt kick off until 2006, they didnāt meet in the playoffs from 2004 until 2008
Pretty crazy how often they get compared
Spurs were defending champs in 08 and Kobe was hunting Timmy on every switch and putting up jumpers in his face. Duncan couldnāt guard him that series.
Wow the revisionism lmao
I’m still pissed at Walton saying Kobe was making the twin towers look like the twin sisters in Game 1 of that series when he dropped 45. Still IMO the greatest game I ever saw Kobe play, and living in LA from 99-08 I saw a lot of great Kobe games.
GIVE SHAI THE MVP IN FRONT OF WEMBY PLEASE
make wemby hand it to him
And give a runner up speech where heās obligated to say kind words about Shai
Lmao
Inciting violence is against reddit rules.
That’s how you get a Sith Lord.
Iām deceased.
Still crazy to think they havenāt awarded that yet. Itās a freakin g regular season award for hells sakes.
I could swear they did this last year too, or was it something else I’m thinking of
Right rub it in his face
Forgot Wemby is an anime mcš
His elbow would start itching
āMy elbow thirst for the cracking of a windpipe.ā
Pls don’t remove this one mods
There are so many statline threads and other posts that are getting deleted that normally stay up after a game, is there some angry wolves fan mod? There hasn’t been a single post allowed with Wemby’s statline for the game or the series
Itās not even wolves specific. Recently everythingās been getting removed
I see posts still up for James Harden, Jalen Duren, Donovan Mitchell, Ausar Thompson and Paul Reed’s statline after the early game,one for Ant’s whole playoff statline plus a “Terrance Shannon Despite the Loss” post, but nothing Spurs stats related that’s been posted after the game has been allowed to stay up
edit: actually in fairness there was a Champagnie post after the game allowed, and a Castle one before the game finished.
All the OKC stats got removed and I think all the magic stats got removed too (although no one ever posts about us lol). The mods have just been on a tear this playoffs it’s not a wolves specific thing
Yeah I do know the mods have been policing things pretty seriously, I got a permaban (graciously knocked down to one week after I apologized) for posting “Congratulations to Jokic for continuing his undefeated Finals streak!” But not letting us talk about the best player in the series is kinda crazy
You got permabanned for that? Weak. Some mods really go overboard
https://i.imgur.com/XYzb1Dp.png
Why have mods recently just been removing everything
Is this not a place for general discussion
No. This is a place to be miserable only. Excitement is prohibited
Iām so fucking happy this series is gonna happen. I canāt wait!
Itās going to be some good ass basketball!!!!
Should be a banger. Will be avoiding the game threads though lol
Iām sure everyone will be really understanding of each other! /s
You guys arenāt the villains yet lol.
Starting to happen a little this year, next year both teams gonna be the villains of the west for sure tho.
Okc is definitely overshadowing the spurs in villainy this year with everyone else in the NBA fandom seemingly hate watching them.
It’s genuinely going to be an amazing series and I will not go anywhere near reddit for any of it
I can already tell you every comment on both teams game threads
Thunder are losing: Spurs are so fucking annoying, Wemby is a flopper and so arrogant
Thunder are winning: hahaha Wemby is so overrated and the spurs are trash
Spurs are losing: Thunder are so dirty and get every call, SGA pushes off and flops every play and Lu Dort is trying to kill people
Spurs are winning: hahaha SGA is the mvp right? Thunder are so overrated
Nah bro, cherish them while you can. You’ll look back on the toxicity with fondness
Feel like this is basically the championship
Yea. I donāt see anyone in the east beating either of them if there are no injuries.
Tbf the Knicks have a really good matchup against us, thats exactly how the NBA cup went too
I would say the Cavs have also been a great matchup against the Spurs. Cavs 2-0 against them in the regular season.
Yeah but we suck lol
This series is going to be an absolute bloodbath!
Some Naruto vs Sasuke shit we boutta have wtf this is gonna be insane.
Everyone wants OKC to lose.
So naturally they will win.
I actually want OKC to win again, and I really can’t put a finger on why
Whole team is players y’all could’ve had!
I’m sorry.
People say that but yall just have the right sauce. And presti. I feel like we woulda botched a lot of those picks
The giraffe battle has begun!
Let them Fight!!!!
Have you ever seen how giraffes fight? It will blow your mind.Ā
The Peopleās Elbow vs The Unabomber. A classic.
A year after watching Halliburton in the finals kings fans now get to see Mike brown and deaaron fox in the conference finals. Maybe Keon Ellis and Schroeder there too
Hopefully this lives up to the hype, we havenāt had a great WCF since Warriors/Rockets 8 years ago
That series had everything. Basketball at its highest form.
Its only a shame it has to end.
I canāt wait for the absolute bipolar game threads coming our way
*Refs call a foul on the Spurs* I canāt believe OKC gets every call!
*Refs call a foul on OKC* NBA gotta protect their golden boy!
Repeat every whistle.
Donāt forget every game they get more free throws itās āOKC finally finding out what it feels like šššā
we could’ve just skipped the entire regular season.
Then neither Castle nor Harper would be as developed as they are. Regards.
Thatās the absurd thing here. I watched all their 3 games last december, and jeez the spurs looks wayyyyyy better now.
Virtually no one at the beginning of the regular season would have projected the Spurs in the WCF. If we skipped the regular season, it would have been Thunder vs. Nuggets or Rockets or Wolves.
Thank you. Spurs are like 2-3 years ahead of schedule
I don’t know who’s gonna win but there’s one thing I’m sure of…this series is gonna be toxic AF
Whoo boy this shit is about to be toxic, about to board the Wemby hate train
Put on your hazmat suit before walking into any game threads next week.
what if it ends up being an anti-climactic sweep for either š¤£….toxicity would be next level around here
If we get swept, I’m deleting all socials and going into hiding.
If we sweep them, I apologize in advance for how insufferable I will be.
4-3 Spurs
Amen.
Ausar
I kinda want to see OKC and the Knicks go to the Finals, only so that every game will look like an intrasquad scrimmage because both teams have the same colors.
Spurs in 5
I like the cut of your jib
I’m less enthusiastic about their jib tbh
poorly cut jib in my opinion
OKC’s depth is truly frightening, and they’ll definitely notice how Kornet has been a layup line in this series. Yes, he got some blocks in this game, but in general it’s just too easy for a very quick or very shifty guard to find an angle for a layup/dunk. Case in point: TJ and Ayo. AJ Mitchell will probably carve up the Kornet minutes with the bench lineup.
If Jdub comes back, OKC in 6, but I think the Wemby minutes will be close to equal and perhaps even in favor of Wemby. But I do not have faith in the Kornet center lineups. I hope to be proven completely wrong, of course.
Edit: I was not caught up on the news, Jdub is already confirmed to be playing in this series. Well, there’s my prediction: OKC in 6, mostly as a result of them winning the non-Wemby minutes.
Jdub is back. He said earlier today he could’ve played game 4 vs Lakers if they’d needed him
I do believe this Spurs D can make it happen. The LA series showed you can stop SGA, we just didnāt have the bench depth. The Spurs do.
We didnāt have Dub. We have him now. Canāt double and triple Shai anymore.Ā
Sure you can. Just may not work.
We also have jdub back tho, along with Ajay
the same series showed you why its a bad idea
These game threads are about to get so salty I don’t think anyone is ready. Thunder fans can’t even stay out of game threads they aren’t even a part of LOL I know for a fact this is the matchup OKC did NOT want. I’m so ready for it
It’s rough waiting for the next series. Feels like a miniature offseason.
Yeah itās like being in timeout because we won
So a Thunder flair user going to a non-Thunder game thread is a bad thing, but the thousands of Nuggets, Spurs, Lakers, and T-Wolves flair users that flood Thunder game threads (and have for probably a year now at this point) is… fine?
You do realize r/nba game threads are FOR the neutral fans, right? Teams have their own subs for their own threads
Spurs fans are top three loudest fan bases on SGA hate. Lmao. Glass houses and whateverĀ
Apparently you’re not allowed to watch games your team isn’t playing in? What a weird take lol
That explains a lot of the takes on here tbh
Yessir!!
Just hoping no injuries. JDub didnāt look like himself until just before the playoffs started, and was looking like the clear #2 until he strained his hammy against Phoenix. Sounds like he could have come back sooner, but the team decided to give him extra rehab time to make sure he was 100% for this series. I have a feeling heās going to get a lot of time on Wemby defensively.
Ajay didnāt play in 3⁄5 of the Spurs games.
Spurs in 6
Okc warriors 2016 type shit
Man this one could go either way
This is the most excited Iāve been for a WCF, heck even a playoff series in a while.
SGA vs Wemby. Two of the best teams all season. Both have depth, can score in multiple ways, great defenses, and they have lots of animosity for each other.
I canāt fucking wait!!!!!
4-1 OKC
gonna be a great series, but i think spurs take it in 6
I hope to make a lot of new friends in the game threads. Good luck everyone!
Gonna be a Bloodbath
axis powers vs the galactic empire
Note to self, Avoid game threads at all cost, it will be like a warzone
This series, imho, is where the “Spurs are young and inexperienced” narrative matters. The Spurs have made a habit of getting up bigly in these games, but letting the other team back into it. I don’t think that shit is gonna work against the champs.
That being said, I think the Spurs can win, but they’re going to have to learn something from each quarter of basketball played.
This series determines the NBA champion.Ā
Let’s go this should be a crazy series. Battle of the 2 best teams in the league with all the stakes in the world!!! Very happy we actually get this matchup hopefully dub is back and healthy!
I need this to go seven with SAS going through and Tottenham staying up to get transatlantic āSpurs surviveā headlines. š
Wemby will be bald walking up and down stairs.
This is the real Finals i think
Wheoever wins this series i think wins the ring
7 games pleaseĀ