NBA Playoffs 2012: 3 Things OKC Must Do to Tie the Series

Oklahoma City is a great team, and many people thought they would beat the Spurs.

However, down 0-2 in the Western Conference Finals, those hopes are now very bleak.

The Thunder will have to win four of five games against the West's best team, which happens to be on a 20-game winning streak. San Antonio has used many methods to beat teams, and they are prepared very well for whatever a team throws at them.

OKC has a great offense, and they haven't stopped scoring. However, San Antonio has played great offense, and that's why they're up 2-0. The Thunder are still able to win the series, but they'll need to do some things.

Here are three things OKC must do to tie the series.

Perform in the Clutch

I didn't think this would be an issue for the Thunder, but it is.

Kevin Durant, OKC's late-game closer, hasn't done enough to propel OKC to victory. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker have taken over instead.

Because of both of them, the Spurs are up 2-0.

Kawhi Leonard has played great defense on Durant, forcing him to work very hard for every basket. Parker and Ginobili have both been aggressive, and they've both drawn fouls, made layups and drained free throws.

Thanks to San Antonio's fourth quarter play, they have been able to win two games.

At home, expect the Thunder to channel the same mentality of being aggressive and hitting the late shots. However, the Thunder will have to make shots, be aggressive and play well down the stretch.

If they don't, the Spurs will advance easily.

Contest Shots, Play Good Defense

See this picture? This is the kind of defense the Thunder need to play 48-plus minutes per game.

OKC did pretty well on the stat sheet in Game 2, although San Antonio dominated one category. While the Spurs are the best shooting team in the NBA, they shouldn't be able to shoot 55.1 percent on the Thunder.

However, they did.

Tony Parker has done a great job of spreading the floor and setting his teammates up for easy baskets, but OKC has to do a better job on defense. They need to control the tempo, steal the ball and keep up with the Spurs.

If San Antonio's shots are contested, their shooting percentage will go down.

If their shooting percentage goes down, so will their chance of winning.

Disrupt San Antonio's System

For those of you who don't follow the Spurs much, you should know one thing—they run a very effective system.

Tony Parker, San Antonio's fantastic point guard, has found ways to penetrate into the paint and kick the ball out to set his teammates up for open jumpers. He finds guys cutting backdoor, finds guys who are open and, sometimes, he just drives to the middle.

Russell Westbrook is the guy who needs to stop that.

So far, not so good.

I expected Westbrook to be able to disrupt this system but, in San Antonio, he hasn't been able to do that.

Tony Parker has penetrated and passed the ball very effectively. Because of that, the Spurs are shooting very well and scoring a lot of points.

This doesn't seem likely to happen, but Westbrook at least needs to give it his best shot.

San Antonio is a great team. If there's one way to slow them down, it's to disrupt this system. Disrupting the system would lead to fast-break points and a good chance at victory.

If the Thunder don't do this, they have a small chance. If they do, that chance suddenly gets a lot bigger.