Ranking the 5 key players to impact the NBA Western Conference Finals
In January, mid-way through the regular season, a large part of the NBA fan base was convinced that the Western Conference Finals would be a match-up between the defending champions Golden State Warriors and the retooled San Antonio Spurs.
And rightfully so, both teams were rolling in the regular season with the Warriors breaking the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins and the Spurs setting their franchise record for wins with 67. Having said that, Golden State won three of the four head to head match-ups during the season comfortably, winning the first one by a margin of 30 points.
So if you put the regular season records aside and study just the match-ups in the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder made the Warriors work harder for their wins than the Spurs ever did. Although Golden State swept the season series with OKC, the contests were competitive, grueling and had an intense Playoff atmosphere in every game.
While many consider the Thunder’s win over the Spurs as an upset, the fact of the matter remains that the OKC-GSW Conference Finals match-up promises to be no disappointment, at least going by their head to head contest during the season.
Here are the top 5 players to impact this series the most:
5) Andre Roberson
At the 2016 All-Star Game, the Warriors (3) and Thunder (2) were well represented with five total players but one of those players does not make this list. That makes a place for OKC’s starting shooting guard Andre Roberson, the difference maker in Game 6 of the Conference Semis against the Spurs.
Everybody knows how good of a defender Roberson is. He is undoubtedly among the top perimeter defenders in the league. He does so by getting into the player’s face, contesting hard without fouling and bodying his man up. Most probably he will be the player to guard Stephen Curry unless OKC believes his defence is required elsewhere.
Roberson is the X-factor in this series. It’s Roberson’s offence that makes him lethal, despite having none.
If he can string together a couple or three games in this series where he shoots the ball efficiently, the Warriors will have to give some attention, which makes life a lot easier for OKC’s superstars in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
If his offence fails him and his team, the Warriors are far too smart to not react. They would double team off of him, stagnating and choking the volatile Thunder offence. It would force the Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan to sit Roberson, forcing the load on both ends of the floor on to Durant and Westbrook.