netw3rk: The quintessential Russell Westbrook play is to careen headlong into a thicket of bad ideas and, armored by the swaggering unconcern generated by a nuclear-level athleticism, come out the other side with something really fucking awesome. He blocks shots so as to observe their arcing flights into various sections of the lower bowl. He perceives multiple rim-shielding defenders the way a skateboarder might see a handrail and a set of stairs, stationary objects to be exploited for style points. He pulls up for irresponsible early-clock 30-foot napalm bombs because to hit one would be rad. He is the basketball version of parkour, a cost-benefit analysis that says doing five amazing things is worth doing 2.5 stupid ones.
The deserved appreciation for the consistent, intelligent, and balanced approach of the San Antonio Spurs is, in effect, an appreciation of the artfulness with which Gregg Popovich hides that team’s weaknesses. The Spurs are deep, skilled, and deployed in a way that maximizes their talents while minimizing the fact that they are, at their core, older than Grand Canyon dirt. All that guile and meticulously crafted balletic motion is enough to baffle any team that doesn’t have the fast-twitch blink-and-miss athleticism of the Thunder.
Being smart is important. But, sometimes something as dumb as gunning the engine, leaving defenders like a rocket leaving Earth en route to a coast-to-coast dunk past the outer solar system with additional extended display of sidearm holstering just trumps everything else. Great plan, guys. [Screeching of tires amid cloud of smoke.] Bye.
Popovich is the best X’s and O’s coach in the league and his Spurs just got ran off the court and out into the Oklahoma night basically because Russ is reaaaaally fast and can jump, like, kung fu–movie high. Westbrook had 40, 10, and zero fucks, and the Thunder outscored the Spurs in fast-break points you-have-no-chance-to-catch-him-so-just-let-him-go to 0. In other words, right now, the Spurs are playing chess and the Thunder are playing PlayStation.