NBA Finals 2012: Why the Oklahoma City Thunder Will Be Impossible to Beat

On Wednesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 107-99, in Game 6 of the 2012 NBA Western Conference Finals.  The Thunder must wait until the Eastern Conference Finals finishes to learn of their next opponent—either the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics.  Game 6 of that series will commence tonight at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time.  The Celtics lead 3-2.

Regardless of opponent, the Thunder will win the 2012 NBA Finals.  Oklahoma City has played the best playoff basketball this season, winning 12 of 15 games.

The Thunder lead all playoff teams in points per game (102.3) and free throw percentage (.835).  Add in a .481 field goal percentage and a .374 three point field goal percentage, and head coach Scott Brooks has the team scoring from everywhere on the court.  Oklahoma City has not turned the ball over much, either.

Though the Thunder have not played overly strong defense, their ability to score and to win has made up for it so far in the 2012 NBA Playoffs.

Kevin Durant has been the best scorer in the Western Conference playoffs.  He leads all Western Conference players with 417 total points, which averages to 27.8 points per game.  Durant leads all players in three point percentage (.364) who have attempted at least 60 three point shots.  Not counting Lazar Hayward, who attempted and made one shot, Durant is third on the team with a .505 field goal percentage.

Durant is second amongst all players with 111 defensive rebounds.  During the regular season, Durant totaled 487 defensive rebounds, good enough for seventh in the league. 

Serge Ibaka has a field goal percentage of .556.  Ibaka is the playoffs’ best shot blocker with 3.3 blocks per game.  His strong post play, both offensively and defensively, has contributed greatly to the Thunder’s success in the 2012 postseason.

Derek Fisher has provided Oklahoma City with great veteran leadership coming off the bench.  Fisher has played in all 15 playoff games and averages 21.2 minutes per game.  With the Los Angeles Lakers, Fisher won five NBA championships, so the Thunder’s young stars should learn from him how to become NBA champions.

With Fisher on board, Oklahoma City has some experience to compliment the youth.

James Harden has continued to show why he won the 2011-12 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.  Harden has not started a single playoff game, but he has averaged 1.7 steals per game and a .446 shooting percentage beyond the arc.  Whichever team wins the Eastern Conference must fear the beard in the finals, especially from three point territory.  Despite coming off the bench, Harden has averaged 31.1 minutes per game in these playoffs.

Nobody should underestimate Oklahoma City’s youth.  Only four players who have appeared in the playoffs for the Thunder are at least 30 years old.  Six players are under 25 years old.  Durant, Harden and Russell Westbrook—arguably the Thunder’s three best players—are 23, 22, and 23, respectively.

If Oklahoma City were to meet Boston in the NBA Finals, it would face a team with five playoff performers over 30 years old.  All three of the Big Three—Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce—are at least 34 years old.  The Celtics would not keep pace with the Thunder’s high-octane offense in a playoff series.  The San Antonio Spurs, another older team, could not bring down the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

The Miami Heat also has some wear on its tires, but its Big Three of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh are no older than 30.  James also won the 2011-12 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, as he and Durant were the best players in their respective conferences this season. 

Miami would fare much better than Boston in the NBA Finals, but the Heat have not played as well as the Thunder in the playoffs.  Miami has a lower field goal percentage than Oklahoma City, a three point field goal percentage (.317) and free throw percentage (.719) under the league average for the playoffs, and fewer points per game than the Thunder.

Defensively, the Heat have played much better than the Thunder.  Miami has surrendered fewer than 90 points per game.  Offensively, the Heat have played much better than the Celtics throughout the playoffs.

The opponent, though, has not mattered to Oklahoma City in the 2012 NBA Playoffs.  San Antonio tied for the league’s best regular season record and finished second in regular season points per game.  The Thunder have kept rolling.

Last season, Oklahoma City lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Dallas Mavericks.  This season, the Thunder have overcome both obstacles, beating Dallas in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs and winning the Western Conference Finals.

Like the Lakers won five NBA championships from 2000 to 2010, the Thunder can become the team of this decade.  That all starts with an NBA championship in 2012.  An unstoppable offense paired with a young nucleus just entering its prime suggests this is only the beginning of great success the Midwest.

Oklahoma City has dominated the competition this postseason.  The pressure of the Finals will not change anything.

As a franchise, the Seattle SuperSonics and the Oklahoma City Thunder have gotten close to a championship many times but have one win (1979).  The franchise is 3-4 in the Western Conference Finals and 1-2 in the NBA Finals.  This season, the Thunder will reverse the fortunes of their predecessors and raise the Larry O’Brien Trophy once again.