Spurs vs. Thunder: Power Ranking Every Player in Western Conference Finals

The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are ready to meet in the Western Conference finals, bringing with them more than their fair share of great players. 

These power rankings rank every single player on the rosters for these two titans of the west. 

This is how they stack up now, but how will things change when the two teams clash in a battle royale that may well prove to be the de facto NBA Finals if the winner manhandles the representative from the Eastern Conference? 

26. Lazar Hayward, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 1.4 points, 0.6 rebounds, 0.2 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 0.0 points, 0.3 rebounds, 0.0 assists

Minutes Per Game: 3.0

Coming in at No. 26 out of a possible...drum roll...26 spots is Lazar Hayward. 

When you've played nine minutes and added nothing to the box score but one rebound and one turnover, it's hard to be anyone but Mr. Irrelevant. 

25. Royal Ivey, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 2.1 points, 0.7 rebounds, 0.3 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 1.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists

Minutes Per Game: 4.3

There's a reason that the only picture of Royal Ivey I could find from the Getty Images database was of him in a warmup outfit. 

Ivey has stepped onto the court for 13 minutes during the playoffs and fired up six shots, hitting only one in the process. 

He's the only player on either team with negative win shares, but beats out Hayward because he's at least attempted to play. 

24. James Anderson, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 3.7 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 1.2 points, 0.3 rebounds, 0.3 assists

Minutes Per Game: 2.5 

James Anderson is the lowest-ranked member of the San Antonio Spurs simply because he's played the fewest minutes and made the least impact of any of the reserves. 

That's really all there is to it. 

Anderson hasn't played poorly; he just hasn't been on the court much. 

23. Nazr Mohammed, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 2.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.2 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 2.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.1 assists

Minutes Per Game: 11.1

The amount of jiggles I see when Nazr Mohammed runs up and down the court after making a rare bucket still makes me giggle. 

I just can't help it. 

22. Cole Aldrich, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 2.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.1 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 2.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.0 assists

Minutes Per Game: 5.0

While Nazr Mohammed might inspire comedic relief, Cole Aldrich is terrifying during the infrequent occasions that he leaves his well-worn spot on the bench. 

When in the game, the former Kansas Jayhawk has been a monster on the glass, posting a jaw-dropping 39.5 total rebound percentage thus far. 

21. Patrick Mills, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 10.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 2.0 points, 0.5 rebounds, 0.7 assists

Minutes Per Game: 3.3

Patrick Mills has only played 20 minutes during the 2012 NBA playoffs, but he's been a lights-out shooter during those limited minutes. 

Mills has made five of his six field-goal attempts and two of his two three-pointers for a ridiculous 1.000 effective field-goal percentage and true shooting percentage. 

20. Daequan Cook, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, 0.3 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 2.7 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.3 assists

Minutes Per Game: 8.3

Daequan Cook has been nowhere near as effective as Patrick Mills in his limited action, but he's played 55 more minutes. 

Sometimes quantity does trump quality. 

19. Matt Bonner, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 6.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.9 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 3.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.6 assists

Minutes Per Game: 8.2 

Matt Bonner gets bonus points for the red hair and the ugly effectiveness of his famed jump shot. 

As you might have expected, 16 of his 23 attempts from the field have come from downtown and he's canned seven of those. Not a bad option to have coming off the bench in dire situations. 

18. DeJuan Blair, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 3.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.3 assists

Minutes Per Game: 8.2

DeJuan Blair's role has significantly diminished since he was a double-double threat during the early portion of the regular season. Now he's limited to garbage time minutes and spotty appearances when every other big man is too tired to play. 

Blair has been effective on both ends of the court, but his lack of run inhibits me from putting him any higher. He's been on the court for at least 50 minutes less than everyone left in the rankings. 

17. Nick Collison, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 4.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 2.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists

Minutes Per Game: 18.4

Nick Collison has been the worst defensive player on the Oklahoma City Thunder. I'm fairly sure that Dirk Nowitzki made this shot over Collison's outstretched right arm. 

However, his 63 percent shooting from the field has provided the team with some nice offensive production.

16. Derek Fisher, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 4.9 points, 1.5 rebounds. 1.4 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 6.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.9 assists

Minutes Per Game: 20.8

Derek Fisher may be able to provide leadership for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the occasional timely three-pointer, but that's really about it at this point in his career. 

If Eric Maynor were healthy, there would be no need to even have Fish on the roster. 

15. Stephen Jackson, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 8.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 5.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists

Minutes Per Game: 19.6

With his 41.7 percent shooting, Stephen Jackson hasn’t been great during the San Antonio Spurs’ two sweeps thus far in the playoffs, but he hasn’t been bad either.

Captain Jack has knocked down half of his 18 attempts from downtown and all six of his free throws in those eight games.

Now we’ll just have to see if he can slow down the offensive firepower coming from the Oklahoma City Thunder players at his position. 

14. Tiago Splitter, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 9.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 7.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.3 assists

Minutes Per Game: 16.4

While playing less minutes per game than Stephen Jackson, Tiago Splitter has been able to score more and haul in far more missed shots off the glass than his teammate.

It’s tough to mistake the young big man for a great offensive player, but he’s been one of the best defenders on this elite squad while maintaining a high level of offensive efficiency. 

13. Thabo Sefolosha, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 4.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists

Minutes Per Game: 18.3

Thabo Sefolosha may not provide a lot of offense for the Oklahoma City Thunder when he comes off the bench, but then again, the team’s not exactly looking for one more scorer to add to the offensive trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

This shooting guard’s value has always been his ability to play lock-down defense on the perimeter, and with his 103 defensive rating, that’s exactly what he’s been doing. 

12. Gary Neal, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 8.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists

Minutes Per Game: 14.1

Of all the San Antonio Spurs who have averaged double-digit minutes per game during the playoffs, only two have posted PERs above 20: Tim Duncan and Gary Neal.

Neal has shot lights-out from the field, even making 10 of his 20 shots from behind the arc this postseason. The only thing keeping him from rising any higher in these rankings has been his lack of defense. His 101 defensive rating is tied with Stephen Jackson and Tony Parker for last on the team. 

11. Kendrick Perkins, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 5.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 3.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists

Minutes Per Game: 26.0

The intensity and toughness that Kendrick Perkins brings to a young Oklahoma City Thunder squad like this one is invaluable and can’t easily be quantified.

What can be represented by numbers though are the following: Perkins' struggles to score the ball from any distance away from the hoop, his defensive presence in the paint and his solid work on the glass. 

10. Boris Diaw, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 4.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 6.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists

Minutes Per Game: 25.0

This is most certainly not the same uninspired Boris Diaw some of us had to watch while he was playing for the Charlotte Bobcats during the early portions of their ill-fated season.

Now, Diaw is motivated under the tutelage of Gregg Popovich and is playing solid basketball off the bench.

Other than the reserves (whose numbers here don’t mean as much due to their limited playing time), Diaw actually has the highest offensive rating on this explosive team, coming in at a ridiculous 126. 

9. Danny Green, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 9.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 10.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists

Minutes Per Game: 24.8

I swapped Boris Diaw and Danny Green back and forth in my mind, but finally settled for the more generic name in the higher spot.

Green loves to shoot the ball from downtown, and fortunately for the San Antonio Spurs, he’s quite good at it. The young swingman from North Carolina has knocked down 16 of his 35 tries from downtown.

The added presence that Green gives the team, coupled with his slightly better defensive play, was enough to nudge Green ahead of Diaw.

8. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 8.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists

Minutes Per Game: 24.4 

The rookie from San Diego State has earned a large role on this squad for good reason.

With his ridiculously big hands, Kawhi Leonard is playing beyond his years and giving the San Antonio Spurs a huge boost.

Gary Neal and Patrick Mills are the only players on the team with higher true shooting percentages and only Tim Duncan has a better defensive rating than Leonard’s 93.

If he maintained this efficiency numbers while playing more than 24.4 minutes per game, then he’d be able to work his way even higher in the rankings. There’s still plenty of seasons left in his very young career for him to do so. 

7. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 12.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists

Minutes Per Game: 26.3

The run of San Antonio Spurs continues in the form of a left-handed Argentinean shooting guard named Manu Ginobili.

San Antonio has been able to overcome it, but Ginobili hasn’t been his normal self during these playoffs, barely hitting double figures in scoring and turning the ball over way too often.

Regardless, he’s still a great player and his versatility prohibits him from falling any further in the rankings. If he ever starts hitting more than 40 percent of his shots, opponents should be even more terrified of the Spurs than they already are. 

6. Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 9.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 9.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 0.7 assists

Minutes Per Game: 28.2

Blocks.

Blocks.

More blocks.

Even more blocks. 

5. Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 18.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 7.7 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 19.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists

Minutes Per Game: 35.0

I feel bad about putting Tony Parker this low in the power rankings, but his performance hasn’t left me with any other choice.

Parker has been great, just not quite sensational. And this is coming from someone who advocated that Parker’s name be included in MVP discussions all year long.

The blend of 43 percent shooting from the field and a lot of attempts hasn’t exactly done wonders for the point guard’s offensive efficiency and his true shooting percentage of 52.2 is better than only Manu Ginobili and James Anderson’s numbers. Plus, his defensive rating of 101 is tied for the worst mark on the team.

Don’t get me wrong; Parker is a stud. He just hasn’t been as studly as normal lately. 

4. James Harden, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists

Minutes Per Game: 30.3

Things that James Harden has that Tony Parker doesn’t:

1. A ridiculously awesome beard that is no longer deserving of such a simple word. From here on out, we should only refer to the follicular forest on Harden’s chin as a BEARD.

2. A mohawk that in no way looks out of place.

3. Swagger that never stops flowing from every fiber of his being.

4. Truly elite offensive efficiency numbers.

5. Defensive play that is above average on his team. 

3. Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 15.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 17.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists

Minutes Per Game: 32.0

And now we come to the man who has been better than everyone else on the San Antonio Spurs.

Father Time was supposed to slow down Tim Duncan, but Duncan has put that old man in his rightful place.

Blake Griffin might have scored quite a few points against the Spurs, but he couldn’t do anything against the defensive mastery of "The Big Fundamental." Duncan’s defensive rating through the first two series of the postseason is a team-best 91.

He’s also shooting with great efficiency and has completely minimized the turnovers. 

2. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 23.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 24.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists

Minutes Per Game: 36.0

Let’s just say that these are no longer the 2011 NBA playoffs. 

Russell Westbrook is truly one of the absolute best players not only at his position, but also in all of the NBA. 

1. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder

Regular Season Per-Game Stats: 28.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists

Postseason Per-Game Stats: 26.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists

Minutes Per Game: 40.7

Other than LeBron James, Kevin Durant was the best player in the NBA during the regular season.

Now, other than LeBron James, Kevin Durant has been the best player in the NBA during the postseason.

If you’re going to even attempt to deny that, then good luck. You’ll need it.

Durant has been the scoring machine that we’ve come to know and love, but his game has developed in other areas, making him a truly deadly player in all facets of the game.

In addition to the 26.7 points per game he’s averaged, Durant has also crashed the boards for a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game. It’s seemed as though he’s come down with every single defensive rebound that’s even remotely been in his area.

Additionally, Durant has continued to improve as a facilitator and is making more and more good decisions and impressive plays while passing the ball.

However, the single most impressive thing about his game has been the defensive focus. Durant has never been viewed as an elite defender, but he’s truly been locking down during the playoffs.