The team of tomorrow versus the team of today

It’s Game 6 and the score’s getting out of reach for the San Antonio Spurs. After the Thunder take a six-point lead on a James Harden three with about three minutes left, the Spurs will never get within a single possession the rest of the way. What’s going on here? Weren’t the Spurs supposed to handle this team?

Remember, San Antonio went into Game 3 of this series with a 20-game winning streak stretching back to April. But the Spurs didn’t win another, dropping four games in a row.

This from a team that ripped apart competition and not just for those 20 straight wins. The Spurs finished the season with their conference’s highest SRS and top seed. They had the most potent offense in the NBA, averaging about 110 points per 100 possessions. What happened?

One thing was how the Thunder’s star duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook exploded all over the Spurs. Durant averaged nearly 30 points and five assists in the conference finals, better than his first two rounds. And while Westbrook’s scoring went down against the Spurs, his rebounds and assists rose (not to mention his sense of style). When two young superstars come into their respective own, it’s hard to lose.

It was more than just those two, though. Statistician Dean Oliver once wrote of the four factors to winning a basketball game: shooting, rebounding, turnovers and free throws. Throughout the series, the Thunder dominated most of these factors. In all four wins, the Thunder shot more efficiently and averaged an offensive rating of 110.4. For what’s it worth, the Spurs held the Thunder to a rating of 102 in the regular season. 

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There were other things: the Thunder’s shooting – especially with threes – improved, as did their assist rate. Basically their offense exploded, and it’s worth noting that the Spurs were not a strong defensive team, finishing the season with the 10th-ranked defensive rating.

Could it be that the Thunder are arriving ahead of schedule? They were supposed to be good, but this good this quickly? Both Durant and Westbrook are 23, and Serge Ibaka and James Harden are 22. Is their explosion against the Spurs sustainable, especially against a team as good as the Miami Heat?

The Heat were good on Saturday night in Game 7 of their conference finals. They roared back from 11 down and pulled away late. There was a great alley-oop from Wade to James that was NBA Jam-esque. Mario Chalmers penetrated the Celtics zone defense repeatedly and picked up seven assists. Chris Bosh dropped 19 points on 8-10 shooting, including three three-pointers. The Heat occasionally looked like a team on the verge of something special.

The Big Two were something else: James finished with 31 points and 12 rebounds, Wade with 23, six assists and six boards. More than once, they hooked up on football-like passes, rapid transitions moving across the floor before the Celtics could respond. James’ dunk gave Miami an 83-82 lead in the fourth and had him tearing through Boston’s defense, slamming it down. Later he extended the lead to seven with an area code-distance three, standing for a second after it dropped.

Right after the dunk, there was a TV timeout. Coming back, ESPN played a reel of James’ recent past: the playoff loss to the Celtics, The Decision, him standing on a podium and counting titles. But as Bosh hit big shots down the stretch, the Heat extended the lead on 20-6 run to close out the game and Miami looked like what James promised on that podium back in ’10. His game on Saturday night felt like one meant to silence doubters.

In the past two games, James has had the following stat lines: 45-15 and five assists, then 31-12 and two assists. In two must-win games, he carried a team heavy on star talent; a team which looked atrocious at other points in the series. James may be a lot of things, but the labels of him choking in the postseason are grossly unfair. Remember when he was dogged by chants in 2010? When the Cavs fell apart in Game 6? When Dirk hit that dagger lay-in last June? He took the blame, but was it deserved?

Everyone remembers him tearing his jersey off as he walked to the locker room in 2010. How many remember the 27 point, 19 rebound and 10 assist performance? James is, and has been for some time now, the best player in the league. And right now, he’s playing at a new level.

In the last round, Boston and San Antonio looked and played like the teams of yesterday. And maybe the Thunder are the team of tomorrow: young, talented but inexperienced.

But Miami is the team of today. They looked borderline unstoppable against Boston in a must-win game. James looked just unstoppable. His last two games have been vintage performances from the guy with 23.3 playoff win shares for his career, which puts him ahead of any player ever who hasn’t won a championship. That’s the one meaningful statistic here: James has never won a title. It took Michael Jordan four years to get past the Detroit Pistons en route to his first title. In 1991, Jordan was 27: the same age as James is now. Maybe it’s James’ time to shine.

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