NBA Playoffs 2011: Are the Oklahoma City Thunder the Best Team in the Playoffs?

If someone from the future told NBA fans before last night’s pivotal Game 5 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook would combine to score just 30 points, most people would have predicted the Grizzlies would be heading home with a chance to close out the series in Game 6.

For fans who closely follow the Thunder, the 27-point victory over Memphis with little offensive help from the team's two best players is not a big surprise. 

The Thunder not only won Game 5 without Durant and Westbrook carrying the offense, they played great defense and limited Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph to just nine points, well below his playoff average. 

Oklahoma City showed they are the most complete team in the NBA playoffs, and why they are a bad matchup for the remaining teams still fighting for the title. 

The Thunder got plenty of scoring, defense, and energy from their bench Wednesday night, and proved why they are the deepest team in the league. 

Reserve guard James Harden had nine first half points to pace the bench, and Nick Collison continued his role of being the most underrated player in the playoffs with solid offense and great defense against Randolph.

OKC also received contributions from Daequan Cook, their three-point specialist who is very similar to Miami’s James Jones. 

When the Thunder play good defense they are almost unbeatable with the amount of offense coach Scott Brooks has at his disposal. 

With Harden, Collison, Eric Maynor, Cook, Nazr Mohammed, and Nate Robinson, the Thunder have a bench that could win 20 games themselves if they were a separate team. 

OKC’s bench gives them help in every facet of the game on both ends of the floor, and provides the energy and hustle that helps ignite one of the NBA’s most passionate crowds. 

While much has been made of Russell Westbrook’s high amount of shot attempts during the playoffs, and Durant not getting nearly as many, the Grizzlies to their credit have done well to take away Durant as best they can. 

Tony Allen and Shane Battier have done well to deny Durant the ball and when he does have it, they make his shots difficult to make. 

For this reason, it is unfair to get on Westbrook’s case about taking too many shots. In fact, Westbrook’s play and aggression is great for the Thunder, because they are one of the few playoff teams left that have a true number two scoring option. 

Only Miami can say they have two legitimate scorers if a few key players have an off night. Dallas has no other dependable scorer to fall back on when Dirk Nowitzki is struggling. I know Jason Terry is good, but he’s too inconsistent. 

Chicago has no one that can create their own shot effectively other than Derrick Rose, sorry Luol Deng. And Atlanta has nobody other than Joe Johnson who is good for 20-plus points every night. 

OKC knows that if either Durant or Westbrook is struggling, the one who isn't will shoulder the offensive burden, also knowing they have a good bench to fall back on. 

Most Celtics fans and media pundits have ridiculed Boston general manager Danny Ainge for making the Kendrick Perkins trade with OKC, yet no one has given Thunder GM Sam Presti enough credit for making it. In one move, Presti improved the Thunder from a good team, to a real championship contender. 

Not only is Perkins the defensive rock in the middle that the franchise has lacked for so many years, but the departure of Jeff Green allowed Serge Ibaka to start at power forward. 

Ibaka has used this extra playing time to develop into an elite defender, and improve his offensive game, which now features a dependable mid-range jumper. He is currently the playoff leader in blocked shots too. 

The Perkins trade also freed up minutes for James Harden, OKC’s X-factor, and they are nearly impossible to beat when he plays well. 

Presti has built a winner in Oklahoma City for 2011 and many years down the road. The Thunder have two superstar scorers, two defensively dominant big men, and a bench that is the most well-rounded in the league. 

Dallas is getting much deserved credit for dismantling the Los Angeles Lakers, as is Miami for defeating Boston, but the Thunder are a bad matchup for both of them, as well as for Atlanta and Chicago. 

For all the talk about how the NBA will be dominated for years to come by larger markets attracting all the biggest superstars, it is a small market juggernaut in Oklahoma City that is steadily building the league’s next great dynasty. 

Nicholas Goss is an NBA, and Oklahoma City Thunder Featured Columnist, follow him on Twitter for NBA playoff coverage.