By Jeff Arnold

I didn’t think I could feel any lower than Sunday morning after the Thunder’s 124-92 loss in game 1 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. It wasn’t that the Thunder lost, that was nothing new, it was how they lost.

After years of injury plagued playoff runs everything finally felt like it was coming together. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were healthy and clicking offensively, Serge Ibaka was playing like it 2014, and the bench, specifically Dion Waiters and Enes Kanter, were stepping up. Then Game 1 happened. Again, the sad thing was not that they lost, I expected that, it was that the Thunder found a way to be down 41 in the first half. They looked out of sync, out of form, and, somehow, out of practice. As the emotional leader of the Thunder/Russ bandwagon (Westborough Chapter), I was devastated. It appeared they weren’t just going to lose, they were going to get embarrassed, likely swept, and Kevin Durant would leave. Then Game 2 happened.

Forget the missed foul on Waiters, forget the Spurs’ first quarter, forget Waiters hitting the biggest shot of his life; that game was bigger than all of those things. That game was a microcosm of who the Thunder are as a team. Despite bad defense, despite poor shot selection, despite runs of bad effort, they found a way to win. And this wasn’t just any playoff win, this was a win against their schoolyard bully on their turf.  The Spurs were 40-1 at home going into game 2; the Thunder made it 40-2. If they wanted any chance of winning this series, they had to steal one on the road and that’s exactly what they did.

Even with that miraculous win, there are no guarantees for the rest of the series. The Thunder have not played good basketball since game 1 of the Mavs series and there appears to be little to no sense of urgency to change things, especially on the defensive end. LaMarcus Aldridge has dominated the triumvirate of Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, and Serge Ibaka and, although there have been decent individual efforts to hinder his shooting, it is incredible to think that Billy Donovan has not tried extensive double teaming. Obviously there is a risk to that considering how deep the Spurs are, but it is absolutely worth it.

The Thunder double teamed Aldridge twice in game 2. The first time they forced him into a contested, mid-range turnaround jumper, and the second they forced him into a pass with little time on the shot clock. Now, it is extremely likely that if Billy Donovan consistently doubles Aldridge, Popovich will adapt, so, the key is for the Thunder to use discretion. Obviously that is a vague solution, but it is probably the most accurate way to describe it. If the Thunder can find a way to control Aldridge, their chances go up dramatically.

The Spurs have tortured me for the better part of four years. If the Thunder can find a way to finally squeak past them, it would be a top five moment of my life. They have to win the next two at home, not get blown out in game 5, and then close it out at home in game 6. If this series goes 7, the Thunder will lose. Monday morning this all would have seemed impossible. Now, everything has changed. Thunder in 6.