NBA Playoffs 2014 Bracket & Schedule: Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs; Will Spurs Have Finals Rematch With Miami Heat?
The San Antonio Spurs will look to eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder in game six of their Western Conference Finals series on Saturday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.
The Spurs, who are a win away from arranging an NBA Finals rematch with defending champions Miami Heat, is coming off a 117-89 blowout win over the Thunder on Thursday -- a win that snapped their two-game slide.
San Antonio won the first two games of the series convincingly before the Thunder equalized the series in games three and four.
The Spurs regained momentum after making a crucial adjustment in the previous game, negating the presence of Thunder superstar Serge Ibaka, who has been a difference-maker in the series.
In game five, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich paired veteran superstar Tim Duncan with shooting big men -- Matt Bonner and Boris Diaw -- to move Ibaka away from the basket.
Diaw had a huge night for the Spurs playing the "stretch four" role, finishing with 13 points and six rebounds, and Tim Duncan posted 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Ibaka averaged 12 points to go along with 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in games three and four but was limited to just six points, two rebounds and two blocks in game five.
"The adjustments that the coaches made were very efficient," Diaw said via ESPN. "We tried to space the floor a little more. We came back to the way we were aggressive in the first two games. Going from good to great. That's what Pop has asked all year, that's what we've been doing all year."
It has been a series of adjustment between Popovich and Thunder coach Scott Brooks. When asked if he was planning to play Ibaka at center on Saturday to use his defensive prowess, Brooks said that anything is possible.
Reigning Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant, who is averaging 24.8 points and 6.4 rebounds in the series, expects a pressure-packed showdown, and he insisted that they should play with a lot of sense of urgency to extend the series into a decider on Monday.
"We know that it's a situation where we lose, we go home, and nobody wants to do that. So we just leave it all out there, and whatever happens we live with," Durant said. "Most of the time when we play extremely hard, play well, play together, we come out on top."
Game six is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. EST and will be shown live on TNT.