Western Conference Finals 2012: Spurs Will Prevail vs. Tough Thunder Test

Tim Duncan may not be a one-name wonder like LeBron, Kobe and Dirk, but the world is certainly willing to acknowledge that he's just as worthy of a championship this season, despite what some may think.

He's a future Hall of Famer, a four-time NBA champion (that's four more than LeBron and three more than Dirk, Frank Deford) and the cornerstone of what has proven to be the best team in the postseason—possibly even the best team in the NBA.

And when all is said and done in June, he will be leading the Western Conference's ambassador to the NBA Finals.

The Spurs have made their road to the conference finals look easy. It hasn't necessarily been easy, but they've made it look that way, reeling off eight straight wins against the Jazz and the Clippers en route to a date with the Thunder, who will doubtlessly present a challenge unlike any the Spurs have seen thus far.

But that doesn't mean Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili & Co. are in for a downfall. It just means there's another team out there that—shockingly—can compete with them.

The Thunder have been the second-most dominant team in the postseason. They're headlined by a scintillating group of young players who knocked off a lackluster defending champion before decimating Kobe Bryant and the Lakers 4-1 in the semifinals. They somehow managed to neutralize the once-formidable LA frontcourt and are the only team that stands a chance of beating the grizzly old veterans.

But no one has been better than the Spurs this postseason. There's barely been a team better than the Spurs all year. No, they don't have a single player who ranks among the top 10 scorers in the postseason, but they do have the three most experienced postseason players of anyone still standing in the playoffs, and nobody—not one single team—has been able to contend with them so far.

The Thunder are good, but are they good enough to beat a team that has been so dominant that it has won 18 straight games?

These two teams faced each other three times this season, and San Antonio won two of those matchups. The only time the Spurs lost to OKC—back on January 8, a mere two weeks into the season—they were without Manu Ginobili (broken hand) and Tony Parker, who left the game midway through the third quarter.

The Thunder have definitely been good. They may not have Tim Duncan, but they have the best player in this series in Kevin Durant.

Despite that, they simply haven't been as good as the Spurs. There's nothing that has suggested the Spurs are going to start losing, so why think it now?