Serge Ibaka must have a little superhero in him.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s defensive linchpin miraculously saw the swelling of his left calf recede this week, turning an injury that was supposed to keep him out of the rest of the post-season into a game-time decision last night.
A decision that may have turned OKC’s Western Conference final with the San Antonio Spurs on its head.
With Ibaka back in the lineup on Sunday, it seemed as though every Thunder fault the Spurs had so mercilessly exposed in Games 1 and 2 was immediately covered up. The points-in-the-paint nightmare (San Antonio scored 66 in the series opener and 54 in Game 2) came to an end, with OKC giving up just 40 in the paint in Game 3, largely thanks to Ibaka’s presence at the rim, which prevented Tony Parker from coasting to the bucket for easy lay-ups and saw the OKC big man finish with four blocks.
However, as great as his defensive presence may have been, Ibaka’s impact on the offensive side of the ball may have been more crucial. His return seemed to settle the Thunder down on that end of the floor. OKC isn’t used to playing without their starting centre and it really showed in Games 1 and 2 as Scott Brooks’ team seemed almost incapable of running an offensive set without Ibaka setting a high screen or posting up from the elbow.
With his return, however, the Thunder looked a whole lot more comfortable. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant both had their best games of the series thanks in large part to Ibaka’s presence on the pick-and-pop and 15-feet out in the short corner.
Ibaka’s ability to knock down jumpers completely changed the Spurs’ defensive responsibilities, forcing their bigs to step out and respect the shot, and spreading their defence just enough to provide Westbrook and Durant the space in the paint and along the perimeter that hadn’t been there in the first two games.
Here are a couple more observations from the weekend:
Scott Brooks going small
Beyond the emotional lift Ibaka provided the Thunder, Brooks chose to insert Reggie Jackson into the starting lineup and play small and the adjustment was a real game changer.
The dual point guard look completely dominated San Antonio’s backcourt, with Westbrook and Jackson combining for 41 points to Parker and Danny Green’s 17. Lots of credit goes to Ibaka, but the level of quickness and athleticism that both Westbrook and Jackson possess really bothered the Spurs’ duo, with hard closeouts that ran them off their sweet spots and into much more difficult looks.
The decision to go small worked for the Thunder because they were able to finally use their athletic advantage to the fullest with a scrappier defence that flew toward balls and gang rebounded, and an offence that better spaced the floor to allow Durant and Westbrook to go to work.
Expect to see more of the same in Game 4.
The Heat’s suffocating defence
On the topic of small ball, the masters of the art form showcased it’s full defensive potential on Saturday night.
Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers saw the Heat calmly come back from a 15-point deficit thanks to more brilliance from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, an explosive fourth quarter from Ray Allen and some devastatingly disruptive Heat defence.
Miami forced 17 turnovers and utilized a lineup that mostly featured Norris Cole on Lance Stephenson. It looked like a horrendous mismatch on paper, but the added quickness of Cole really bothered Stephenson, who didn’t seem to appreciate the lack of airspace Cole gave him on catches.
In addition, when the Pacers tried to dump the ball into Roy Hibbert or David West on the block, the Heat were able to converge on the pair and either strip the ball or force awkward shots. Even more impressively, when either of them passed out of the pressure, Miami was able to recover in time and prevent open jumpers.
The Heat’s mastery of small ball has reached such a level that it goes beyond just forcing matchup problems on the offensive side of the ball. The way they completely overwhelmed Indiana with a smaller lineup that, theoretically, the Pacers should have demolished with interior play, should be scary for Indy fans, especially with Miami poised to take full control of the series on Monday night.