On May 1, three days after the Spurs closed out Game 6 against the Grizzlies on the 27th and advanced to the second round to meet the Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals, the first clash between the two sides finally arrived.
Second in the West versus third in the West—the marquee matchup was bound to draw massive attention.
As early as three days before the game, countless media outlets had been offering their opinions and predictions, citing all sorts of evidence to support their own forecasts.
"The Spurs will take the series 4-2!"
"The Thunder will win 4-3!"
"The Spurs will gentleman-sweep them 4-1!"
"The Thunder will sweep the Spurs 4-0!!"
Amid the surging tide of public debate, the day of their head-to-head showdown finally arrived.
"Welcome, everyone, to Tencent Sports' live broadcast. Today, we'll bring you Game 1 of the second round of the Playoffs between the Spurs and the Thunder." Today's commentators, Yang Yi and Wang Meng, began their pregame analysis.
"Mr. Yang, how do you see this series playing out?"
"Uh, well, here's the thing. Everyone has seen the Thunder's performance this year. Their momentum has been incredible. The new Thunder's Big Three of Westbrook, Chen Xi, and Butler put up an outstanding record this season, going 59-23 in the Regular season. That's absurd, everyone. You have to understand, even when Durant was still with the Thunder last season, they only went 55-27. What does that mean? Durant's best year with the Thunder was 2012, when he led them to 60-22."
"So you favor the Thunder more?"
"Yes, I do favor the Thunder a little more. They aren't just strong in the Regular season. So far in the Playoffs, they're one of only three teams to sweep their first-round opponents. The other two are the Cosmic