5 Keys for San Antonio Spurs to Win Western Conference Finals

The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder have traveled through the postseason thus far with relative ease; but come this Sunday, they will each be faced with their first real challenge of the 2012 NBA playoffs.

As the No. 1 seed and the team with home-court advantage, the Spurs should enter this series as the favorites. However, with the Thunder playing as well as they have been all year long, Gregg Popovich’s team needs to focus on a few key areas if they expect to make it back to the NBA Finals this season.

Bench Production

Depth has been a huge part of the San Antonio Spurs’ success this season, and heading into their matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, that shouldn’t change one bit.

The Spurs’ bench has outscored the Thunder’s bench by more than 15 points per game in the playoffs—that includes James Harden’s 17-point-per-game average as a reserve.

It’s no secret that the Spurs are the older team, so utilizing one of the deepest rotations in the NBA is going to be key if they expect to beat the Thunder in the Western Conference finals.

Keep Russell Westbrook out of the Paint

Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker going head-to-head is arguably the most intriguing matchup of the entire Western Conference finals.

Both players are great finishers in the paint, but with Westbrook’s tendency to take quick and unnecessary jump shots, the San Antonio Spurs must force him to play on the perimeter as much as possible.

If you can make a guy like Westbrook resort to jumpers, it will keep an explosive finisher away from the rim, which is where the 23-year-old point guard is consistently at the top of his game.

Force Turnovers

The Oklahoma City Thunder committed the most turnovers in the NBA during the regular season, but they have turned it around significantly since the playoffs began last month.

Having now turned the ball over less than any other team in the playoffs, the Thunder have been able to coast into the conference finals with only one postseason loss so far.

If the San Antonio Spurs can play good perimeter and transition defense, the veteran team should be able to take advantage of any sloppy play, forcing the Thunder to fall back into their old regular-season habits.  

Stop the Fast Break

The Oklahoma City Thunder are arguably at their best when they are out running in transition. With Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden able to score from all angles of the fast break, they have become one of the most exciting teams to watch in the entire NBA.

If the San Antonio Spurs can put a stop to OKC’s run-and-gun production, they can make the Thunder a far less productive team in the upcoming series.

The Spurs don’t want to slow down the entire game, as they are playing at the highest pace of any NBA team and are having as much success as anybody in the playoffs.

So long as they can maintain their own pace and stick to their own game plan, defending the fast break well enough to slow down the Thunder should give the Spurs a huge advantage, 

Contain Kevin Durant

The San Antonio Spurs need to do everything in their power to slow down Kevin Durant and force the other Thunder players to step up big when it matters most.

While the Thunder do have two quality options—Russell Westbrook and James Harden—who combine for 41.1 points per game in the playoffs, there is a significant drop off in scoring when looking down OKC’s roster.

If you’re the Spurs, make Derek Fisher hit big shots. Make the Thunder look inside. Make Westbrook prove he can carry a team in a Western Conference finals matchup.

Durant seemingly can't be stopped in this year's postseason, but if San Antonio can contain the superstar even slightly, it could be enough to propel the team to its first championship appearance since the 2006-07 season.