Battle Out West

While everyone will have their eyes on the NBA Easterner Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat, everyone is looking past the great match up out west that will feature the top two teams in the Westerner Conference the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs.

The Last two Western Conference champions, The Thunder (2012) and the Spurs (2013), have been the top two teams in the west over the last three seasons, and now for the second time in three years, both teams will battle each other in this year’s Western Conference finals.

Thunder's Kevin Durant (35) Drives On Spurs' Tim Duncan.

The last time the Thunder and Spurs met during the conference finals, the Thunder rally back from after being down 0-2 early in the series to beat the Spurs and advanced to the 2012 NBA Finals. Since their last conference meeting, a lot has change for both franchises.

Since losing to the Thunder in 2012, it seems like the Spurs have dominated more than any other team in the NBA.

This season, it seems like the Spurs have discovered the fountain of youth for their aging stars, and has been on a road to redemption since losing to the Heat in a legendary seven game NBA finals last season.

This season, the Spurs have improved their winning record, setting a franchise record of 62 wins in a single season, and after defeating the Dallas Maverick in a seven game series, the Spurs dismantle the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round winning 4-1. 

Since losing to the Heat in 2012 NBA finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder has not dominated the NBA like the Spurs.

 During the off-season in 2012, the Thunder lost one of their key players James Harden in a trade to the Houston Rockets, and their all-star point guard Russell Westbrook caught the worst case of the injury bug that cost the Thunder an early exit in last year’s playoffs.

 Even as the Thunder gets ready for this year’s Conference finals, the injury bug continues to follow them as key player Serge Ibaka will be forced to miss the rest of the playoffs due to a calf injury.

However, the best change for the Thunder since their last Conference appearance has been the rise of Kevin Durant.

Durant was a big reason in the Thunder winning in the Conference finals in 2012, but since then his game has risen to élite MVP level. This season Durant became the first player since Allen Iverson in 2001 to take the NBA scoring title and MVP honors averaging 32ppg, 7.4rebs, and 5.5ast.

Going into this series it may seem like the Spurs have the edge over the Thunder to get back to the NBA finals for the second straight time, but the result of this year’s conference finals will be the same as two years before.

Over the last two seasons, the Thunder has beaten the Spurs in six out of eight regular seasons meeting played between them.

This year's Conference Finals will be fun and full of entertainment between the Thunder and Spurs, but in six games the Thunder along with their MVP Kevin Durant will be crowned Western Conference champs and gain another chance at winning the NBA title.