u/Stxtic1441

Quietly Cason Wallace has been piecing together another really strong post season. He’s obviously been doing his thing defensively whenever he’s in (averaging 2.4 stocks per game), but the 3 point numbers have been really encouraging.

So far vs the Spurs alone he’s 6/11 from 3 and hit some massive timely 3’s for us when Spurs made runs.

He’s going to be relied upon even more presumably with the impending potential of JDub and Ajay’s injury question marks going forward.

He has been OKC’s best player this series. Instant impact on both ends and has been a steadying force for this team every time he checks into the game.

When Spurs played tried the zone and were trapping Shai, Caruso was just carving it up as the flash man in the middle and making the right read every time.

Tremendous all time playoff riser role player. One of the best players in the league this time of the year.

What a game he had today. Most people expected him to not play this series much, let alone start.

iHart had 8(!) offensive rebounds and was a huge factor with Wemby on both ends.

We all are pissed by the loss but Caso’s reaction might’ve been a lot of ours at the time. All you can do is laugh when you see something that ridiculous happen.

These were probably the big difference in the game.

You can blame a lot of things on this game. Getting killed on the glass by 21, questionable rotations by Mark, ridiculous shot making by the Spurs, etc.

The reality is these 3 MUST be better. Shai is supposed to be the best player in the world and simply did not have it. There’s not much more to say with him, he’s just gotta be better than 7/23 from the field.

Ajay has got to be WAY more assertive looking for his shot. He played 34 minutes and only attempted 5 shots, that’s just unacceptable. He really struggled creating advantages vs the Spurs physical perimeter defenders.

Chet has gotten probably the most slander from everyone. My offensive expectations were honestly low coming in from him, but he has got to be the difference on defense. I’m really hoping Mark abandons the smalls on Wemby approach and just lets Chet own the matchup.

These 3 ALL have to play much better for OKC to have a chance in the series.

Excited to get a healthy JDub back onto the team for this matchup. He will be a massive factor in deciding the outcome of the series on both ends.

What a difference a year makes when Chet isn’t coming off a mid season hip fracture. Hopefully he can keep it up vs potentially Wemby next round.

Thunder had infamously a 1-4 record vs the Spurs this season, but 3 of them were without Ajay who has blossomed into a star player for this team.

Important factor to keep in mind when evaluating this matchup and its elements.

The 2 games he did play, OKC won 1 of them and lost by 2 in the IST. Obvious impact maker in the matchup that we didn’t get to fully see in the other matchups due to injury.

The series isn’t over yet but the team that usually wins game 5 in a 2-2 tends to win majority of the time. That said the series isn’t over but just looking ahead:

If you’ve watched the Spurs Wolves series at all, Spurs have deployed a super trap and gap heavy scheme on Ant to get the ball out of his hands and it looks very similar to what the Lakers tried doing with Shai.

Spurs obviously have way better defensive personnel and probably are going to try the same thing so it’s going to be really interesting.

The secondary creators like Dub and Ajay are going to be critical to taking advantage of the of 4v3 as well as the shooting of really all the role players to keep Wemby out of the paint.

Lakers gave a good preview of what to expect so hopefully with the extra prep time Mark and the staff can continue finding ways on how to break those kind of coverages.

Been an absolute paint monster finishing in the paint. Healthy Chet has been moving different this playoff run.

JMac had 8 points in the 4th on 3/5 shooting and really had some game saving shots late. Huge impact today.