How the West Was Saved, starring Serge Ibaka

I was kind of shook last week when the NBA suddenly scheduled a Three Days Grace in the middle of the Conference Finals.

The abnormally-long break was an annoying cliffhanger, but apparently was just long enough for Serge Ibaka to summon some Deer Antler Spray superhuman will, revert a season-ending injury, and save his team's Playoff lives.

Ibaka was the difference last night, playing a superb game on both ends of the floor while noticeably hobbling at times. He came out blazing like Tony in Scarface's final scene, nailing jumpers from several midrange spots, and forcing the Spurs out of the containment scheme that had worked so well for them over the first two games. Serge's displaced defenders created lanes that OKC's scorers exploited all night, allowing them to get easy buckets in a game where Kevin Durant was decidedly pedestrian by his standards -25 on 8-19 -and Russell Westbrook was a walking (running) lost possession in the first half.

On the other end, his presence was also invaluable; not only did he block four shots, but he did an absurd amount of disruption for someone whose season was ostensibly over last week. He dissuaded San Antonio's deadly pick 'n roll, making life miserable for Tony Parker, and most others who came near OKC's basket. It was evident in the number of jumpers the Spurs were forced into, after feasting on the Thunder's interior defense for the first two games (only in the first half, Manu Ginobili doused the 3-point line in gasoline and lit a match).

The Thunder seemed undoubtedly more mobile and confident as a defensive unit working around Ibaka. That added effectiveness - San Antonio shot 39% in Game 3 coming off 57 and 50% - was a team effort, but unquestionably sparked by Ibaka's deterrence against penetration, and OKC's facilitated movement around him. The Spurs had to call audibles they otherwise wouldn't have, and suddenly, somehow, Popovich had no answer for Scott Brooks' Random Lineup Machine.

That the Thunder have several lineups that give San Antonio problems has seemed lost on Brooks, who stubbornly insists on playing Kendrick Perkins about twice as much as he should. The bogus fouls that Perk was quickly racking up last night were basically the refs doing Brooks' job for him in a hilariously ironic way. And Brooks kept clicking buttons on the machine: Reggie Jackson started for some reason, we saw Jeremy Lamb for the first time in eons, Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha took confusing DNP-CDs. Some of this worked, but the Thunder's long, athletic talent causes fundamental problems for the Spurs in lots of spots, so he's bound to hit somewhere. It's like the 'broken clock is right twice a day' saying, only far more frequent.

(Brooks also gets demerit points for how long he left Ibaka in, during the late stages of a decided game. I know, I know, it's the Spurs, and it's the Playoffs, and anything can happen, and he's had a big night, and the fans are all fired up... But, yeah, anything can happen. This guy's attempting a miracle comeback on one leg; get him the fuck out of the game, preserve his energy, and ensure something like this doesn't happen).

San Antonio will no doubt bring a re-tooled arsenal to Chesapeake Energy Arena for Game 4; they're too smart, experienced, and versatile to let one deflating loss stick with them beyond last night. But even with their thorough depth, this is the one team San Antonio can't seem to figure out; the Thunder took four straight from them the last time they clashed in the Playoffs, and the momentum they're riding right now couldn't be stronger.

As a result, seemingly out of nowhere, we have a Western Conference Finals again; a fitting twist in a plot that deserved a better ending. The West was brutally competitive this year; a point that was made so many times, but could never be over-stated. The narrative was destined for a titanic showdown between two worthy foes to decide a Champ, and for two games it seemed like an illest-timed injury would be robbing us of that spectacle.

But then the Serge Protector delivered. Not only was his return a sudden rush of voltage to a team desperately in need of revival, but he knocked the Spurs out of their comfort zone, giving the Thunder at least a hope of escaping the grave his absence dug.