The Microscope: Tony Parker's Stock Starts to Dip (and More)

The Microscope is your recurring look at the NBA's small-scale developments—the rotational curiosities, skill showcases, coaching decisions, notable performances and changes in approach that make the league go 'round.

Slowing the roll on Tony Parker

Every frame needs a focus, and when the San Antonio Spurs made a dead sprint to the top of the Western Conference, Tony Parker was by far the most sensible candidate for foreground clarity.

He had pushed the team forward with Manu Ginobili hobbled and Tim Duncan limited and ultimately had come to be the kind of balanced scorer and playmaker that Gregg Popovich wanted and the Spurs so badly needed.

Parker was the ignition for a beautiful offensive system and rightfully spun and drove headfirst into a turn in the tide of public opinion and some long overdue praise.

But things did get ever so slightly out of control, as Parker was somehow shoved from a comfortable standing as a great—and incredibly important—player to somehow being trumpeted as one of the league's finest.

No success in the NBA can come without some level of hyperbolic reaction, and though the justification for Parker's recent consideration among the elite wasn't entirely unfounded, it certainly seems a bit hasty in retrospect. 

When faced with their first substantial resistance of the postseason, the Spurs have begun to slip, and Parker's impact has been mitigated by the Thunder's improved pick-and-roll coverage and perimeter length. That alone doesn't make Parker anything less than what he is or has been, but it just might temper some of the bloating in esteem that we've seen over the last few months and make Parker appear rather accurately mortal.

The graduation of Oklahoma City's defense

No team in the NBA is as consistent or effective in its team-wide ball movement as the San Antonio Spurs, but even that selflessness has its counter.

After being picked apart by the extra pass and the weak-side pick-and-roll dish in Games 1 and 2, the Thunder have finally pegged some of the Spurs' passing patterns and tendencies and limited those options with long arms and informed anticipation.

The seven-game series format allows opponents to not only tech against a particular (and familiar) opponent game after game, but it grants a group of smart defenders the opportunity to gradually feel their way into effectiveness.

The Oklahoma City Thunder may not have seemed the most likely party to derail San Antonio's tremendous offense, but when given the luxury of working against such a worthy adversary in five consecutive games, it's only natural that the Thunder—a group of eager minds instilled with a new creativity—would pick up a few things along the way.

The Spurs could definitely cut down on some of their unforced errors, but their turnover problems in this series have been the product of a talented—if sometimes underachieving—defensive team imposing its will.

Even San Antonio's mighty offense isn't immune to a bit of defensive focus.

Pinning the Spurs' hopes to a scoring contest

Somewhere along the line, we seem to have gotten a bit confused. There's a universal understanding that San Antonio is a team driven by its offense, and yet so much talk and emphasis has been placed on the Spurs' inability to effectively slow the Thunder.

Honestly, what was to be expected?

Oklahoma City is an elite offensive team, and though the Spurs had managed to put together some effective defensive showings in the first two rounds, their D—not unlike their offense—leans heavily on system in lieu of top-tier talent.

Even Duncan isn't the defender he once was, and the Spurs thus do everything they can to prop up the pieces and pillars in place, in the hopes that their defense is good enough game-to-game to give their offense the opening it needs.

That hasn't changed.

The Spurs look more troubled defensively at this particular moment than they have in some time, but they've long held this potential for defensive letdown, and these Western Conference finals are no more a shootout now than they were prior to Game 1.

This will be a series decided by offense, and if San Antonio is to advance to the NBA Finals, it'll need to settle into its passing game, find alternative means of initially establishing its best offensive options and release some of its impressive consistency in order to give the Thunder something new to think about.