By Charles Jay
The Oklahoma City Thunder were probably a little reluctant to grant Serge Ibaka his wish of playing in Game 3 of the Western Conference playoff series, but they are now glad they wrote his name into the lineup, because he unquestionably provided the major impetus for them to get back into the series after playing so poorly in the first two encounters.
The power forward, as most NBA playoff bettors at VietBet know, had been written out of the playoffs with an injured calf, but Ibaka knew that his team was suffering, and decided that he would live with his own physical pain in order to help them try and re-assert themselves. OKC had its manhood stripped with a 112-77 shelling they took at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2, and another defeat on Sunday would have more or less spelled the end for the Thunder.
Thanks to a spirited and courageous effort by Ibaka, they were able to hold off the end, at least for the time being. Of course, Scott Brooks’ team is looking for something bigger, and they have a chance to make this series even when they take the floor at 9 PM ET at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, which is known as the ‘Peake to those in the know.
In the NBA playoff betting lines that have been posted on this game at VietBet, the Thunder lays points:
Oklahoma City Thunder -3
San Antonio Spurs +3
Over 207.5 Points -110
Under 207.5 Points -110
Ibaka gave the Thunder 30 minutes of power. He blocked four shots and went six for seven from the field, but the effect of having him in the lineup didn’t end there. The Spurs did not come down the lane with as much impunity as they had done in the previous two games, when there was less in the way of intimidation to deal with. Ibaka changes everything; if you want to examine an “advanced stat” (we love the guys who put this together), the offensive rating (average points per hundred possessions) on the part of the Spurs when they are facing Ibaka has been 93 this season, and when they haven’t faced him, it is 122.6. As NBA playoff bettors know, that is a monster difference.
San Antonio had shot 54% over the first two games, but hit slightly less than 40% in Game 3. Yes, Ibaka was the missing ingredient. And Steven Adams, a front line backup, also gave the Thunder some great minutes, grabbing nine rebounds and swatting away four shots himself (after Kendrick Perkins got into foul trouble).
Still, we would suggest to VietBet customers that Oklahoma City may need to get some more accurate shooting from the likes of league MVP Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who were just 42% between them on Sunday. And after hitting a dozen threes in the opener, OKC is just 8-of-42 from the arc since then. Also, it seemed strange that after starting both Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha in Game 2, Brooks would keep both of them seated for the entire game on Sunday.
We can tell basketball bettors that if the Spurs are forced to find some alternate ways to produce points (which they will if Ibaka isn’t unusually sore), they need to be able to rely more on their outside shooting. Manu Ginobili was six-for-nine from beyond the arc, but only three of his 23 points came after halftime, and he came up lame with a bad foot. Danny Green was red-hot in Game 2, but not so much on Sunday (3 for 12). He is an “X” factor, which in this case means that it is unknown what he is going to do from game to game. There are other guys who can hit triples on the San Antonio bench, like Matt Bonner, Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli.
And San Antonio (-380 at VietBet to win the series) must be able to come up with the right combinations when OKC goes small (i.e., with Durant joining Ibaka up front and Reggie Jackson with Westbrook in the backcourt). With the depth that Gregg Popovich has at his disposal, they should be able to do that. But they have to be able to sustain a more energetic effort.
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