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which? This poll is closed. |
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|---|---|---|---|
| the system |
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11 | 37.93% |
| the best player |
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5 | 17.24% |
| the past |
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13 | 44.83% |
| Total: | 29 votes | ||
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Gametime streams @ firstrow and vip HD streams @ CFL and TNT Overtime Game starts at 9pm on TNT NBA Tipoff presented by autotrader.com starting now  OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant stood on the court at Chesapeake Energy Arena and let the noise wash over him, noise like you don't hear anywhere else in pro sports, unique because of the volume but also because of the tone. It is less of a full-throated bellow than a high-pitched shriek, the sound of families with children who are hopped up on candy way past their bedtimes, at the state's most delightful circus. Durant built this big top, with his youth and his bounce, his long arms and feathery jumpers. Fans around town wear T-shirts with his name in place of the Thunder logo. That's about right. He and the franchise are interchangeable. They came to Oklahoma City together and they will likely win championships together. The only question is when. In San Antonio, the Thunder looked years away, and then they returned to the familiar clamor, and suddenly they appear only a few weeks off. So it goes with young powers, growing in fits and starts, until they emerge fully formed. The Thunder won again Tuesday night, 105-92, and the Spurs' 20-game winning streak seems like it was so long ago. The Spurs can line up all their Larry O'Brien trophies and individual awards, but none of that rusted hardware can obscure the truth about this series: Oklahoma City has the best player on the floor and it's not close. Durant had been searching for a groove in this series, and when he consulted the tape, he saw that he was moving too fast, coming off screens before they were set. "Slow down," he told himself. He scored just eight points in the first half Tuesday, but the best closers tend to do that, as if pacing themselves for the final lap. "I wouldn't say I carried us," Durant said, which might have been his only mistake of the night. When Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was asked if it seemed like Durant took over the game, he replied: "It didn't seem like that. That was a fact. I was there. I saw it." It is easy to make social-security jokes about San Antonio, and if this season is any indication, it is also stupid. The last time the Spurs dropped two in a row, they reeled off 20 straight wins. They are headed home for Game 5, where their offense hums, and Oklahoma City scuffles. The din is different at AT&T Center. The Thunder is unable to turn noise into fuel. The Spurs will trust in their experience, their system and their winning pedigree, which counts for a lot. The Thunder will trust in the best player on the court, which often counts for more.
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May 30, 2014 01:06
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http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3638953
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May 31, 2014 00:58
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