Tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET the desperate Oklahoma City Thunder, down 2-0 to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, will be hoping their star power forward Serge Ibaka can return from a calf strain that was expected to sideline him for the remainder of the postseason. Watch OKC try to avoid a 3-0 hole on TNT or live stream it free by clicking this link. Thunder fans can hear the game on WWLS 98.1, while Spurs fans may do the same on 1200 WOAI.
Ibaka's absence has been blamed for much of the Thunder's struggles, but the injured forward isn't buying it. "I've been hearing a lot of people saying my team lost two games because I was out," Ibaka said.
"That's not true. I believe in my guys. I believe in my teammates. They can be better with me or without me. It's no excuse because Serge Ibaka was not there. Just San Antonio, the first two games, they played better basketball."
While Ibaka's absence hasn't helped, it is hard to imagine he would've been enough to shift the outcome of Game 2, which OKC dropped by a shocking 35 points. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich admitted the impact Ibaka has on the Thunder, but remained steadfast in his own team's execution.
"It gives them another hell of a player," Popovich said, "but we are who we are and we've got to be who we are. We can't change what we do."
Indeed, the Spurs have defeated Oklahoma City twice with immaculate ball movement and timely shot-making. "We don't have a Durant," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. "We don't have a Kobe (Bryant) or LeBron (James) that can go one against one and finish every single time.
"We need to pass the ball to find open teammates, and that's what we do, and that's what we've been doing. We all feel proud about it. We know when we have 25 assists or 30, we are much better and we try to do that every time."
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