Although Outdated, Thunder's Simple Approach Is Opening Path to West Finals

SAN ANTONIO — The hand of the skinny man smacked the hand of the scowling one with the force of nearly 20,000 minutes spent on the court together in unfulfilled pursuit of a championship.

The sound of those hands hitting each other—Kevin Durant with the big windup before leaning into the slap, Russell Westbrook too hyped from his clinching and-one to feel any pain—resonated in a suddenly quiet building that had been filled with belief in the San Antonio Spurs all Tuesday night…and all season, really.

As the echo of the high-five rose to the rafters of this barn where the Spurs' five championship banners hang proudly next to all the Rodeo of the Year awards, a reality began to sink in: The Oklahoma City Thunder have no banners, but at their best, this incomparable one-two punch has all along loomed as more of a threat to the Golden State Warriors' championship repeat than the deep Spurs, even in their own historic regular season.

The Thunder are on the cusp of proving it with this 3-2 Western Conference semifinals series swinging back to OKC for Game 6 Thursday.

They lead this series because they've maintained their identity—simplistic or anachronistic as it might be in today's free-flowing NBA to remain devoted to isolated superstars with hard-working role players.

With an approach so straightforward, so easy to run, the Thunder present a more consistent threat in many ways than the Spurs, whose identity often has been lost amid breakdowns in their intricate system.

It has always been easier in the playoffs—when each possession carries its own importance—to maintain a simplistic team approach that puts the basketball in fewer sets of able hands.

That star-indulgent style has been maligned so much recently that it's viewed as a curse to have a predictable offense predicated on solo creation, yet it can still be an incredibly powerful blessing.

When the Thunder's two superstars are both hitting tough shots and creating open ones for teammates, when Westbrook is bouncing from sideline to end line and practically hitting his head on the backboard for rebounds, when Durant has the energy to smother Kawhi Leonard in the fourth quarter…it is a picture of two of the best at their best.

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No one but Stephen Curry got a first-place NBA MVP vote this season, as was announced Tuesday, but Westbrook was fourth and Durant was fifth.

Teammates taking two of the top five spots is a remarkable achievement. Even before Oklahoma City's 95-91 victory in Game 5, it was a reminder of how special Durant and Westbrook can be together.

The last tandem to room together in the top five of the MVP voting was Kobe Bryant (third) and Shaquille O'Neal (fifth) in 2003, switching the spots they held in the '02 balloting. Their Los Angeles Lakers didn't win the '03 title, as the fatigue of winning three consecutive championships fully set in.

The Spurs eliminated those Lakers at this very second round in the playoffs in part behind the singular greatness of Tim Duncan, who repeated as MVP that year, just as Curry has.

Duncan averaged 28 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists in that series against the Lakers.

(For reference, Duncan had five points, three rebounds and one assist Tuesday—and it actually qualified as a successful bounce-back game from zero points, three rebounds and zero assists Sunday. It was sort of sad to see the home fans cheering him disproportionately whenever he did something semi-good, casting Duncan in the role of the walk-on getting playing time with his classmates roaring their encouragement.)

The days of Duncan as the focal point are obviously long gone, but the Spurs have lost the past two games also because Duncan’s successor, LaMarcus Aldridge, has become shaky as the games have grown in magnitude. 

And as wonderful as Leonard always is, he is not in the same league as Durant and Westbrook when it comes to salvaging a team offense by creating a shot off the dribble.

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As a result, the Spurs' sweet-passing style—the identity that saw them win 67 games this season—has been stalled by Oklahoma City's consistent stay-at-home, pack-it-in defense. At the same time, we have been able to see the value in Durant and Westbrook elevating their team in their old way.

"We were calm, like we've been there before," Westbrook said about Game 5.

Why? Durant was calm, added Westbrook, and the 2014 MVP told them all in a potentially pressure-packed huddle to join him, just saying: "Relax."

Durant's poise was and is the counterweight to Westbrook's intensity.

"Russ was a maniac tonight, keeping us in it," Durant said.

The mania worked because Westbrook (35 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists) was true to his identity. He overpassed in the first quarter—even blasphemously bypassing a straight-line open drive to force an awkward pass toward Durant, resulting in one of Westbrook's eight turnovers—but knew better than to throttle back again just because Durant's dominance had won Game 4 for them.

"We do this together," Durant said after Game 5. "And in the playoffs, any given night someone has to step up. Tonight, Russell did a huge job of scoring when we needed him."

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In embracing an identity revving up Durant and Westbrook as much as possible, everyone else's job is simply to help. And while that has seen low-key Serge Ibaka recede from key scenes, it also has seen diligent Steven Adams—the guy who says he just listens to whatever "those two" tell him—emerge as the best of the helpers.

It makes for a downright poetic test for the partnership before Durant's free agency arrives at season's end.

A worthy challenger in the Spurs. A worthy champion likely next in the Warriors.

Two of the best teams from NBA regular-season history demanding that two of the best players from recent NBA history show us how unlimited their upside really is together.

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.