Western Conference Finals Preview: (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (2) Oklahoma City Thunder

With Serge Ibaka out of the lineup, Oklahoma City will need to find other contributors in the frontcourt.

 By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

By The Numbers

San Antonio:
62-20 (32-9 Home, 30-11 Road)
PPG: 105.4 (6th); PPG Allowed: 97.6 (6th)
+7.7 Average Scoring Margin (1st)
Off Rating: 108.2 (6th); Def Rating: 100.1 (4th)
+8.1 Net Efficiency Rating (1st)

Oklahoma City:
59-23 (34-7 Home; 25-16 Road)
PPG: 106.2 (5th); PPG Allowed: 99.8 (12th)
+6.3 Average Scoring Margin (3rd)
Off Rating: 108.1 (7th); Def Rating: 101.0 (5th)
+7.1 Net Efficiency Rating (3rd)

Season Series: Oklahoma City 4-0
Oklahoma City 94, San Antonio 88 (November 27)
Oklahoma City 113, San Antonio 100 (December 21)
Oklahoma City 111, San Antonio 105 (January 22)
Oklahoma City 106, San Antonio 94 (April 3)

West Round 2 Preview: (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (5) Portland Trail Blazers

Terry Stotts isn't a household name like Gregg Popovich, but that could change if the Blazers advance.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

By The Numbers

San Antonio:
62-20 (32-9 Home, 30-11 Road)
PPG: 105.4 (6th); PPG Allowed: 97.6 (6th)
+7.7 Average Scoring Margin (1st)
Off Rating: 108.2 (6th); Def Rating: 100.1 (4th)
+8.1 Net Efficiency Rating (1st)

Portland:
54-28 (31-10 Home; 23-18 Road)
PPG: 106.7 (4th); PPG Allowed: 102.8 (22nd)
+4.0 Average Scoring Margin (8th)
Off Rating: 108.2 (6th); Def Rating: 104.7 (16th)
+3.5 Net Efficiency Margin (T-8th)

Season Series: Tied 2-2
Portland 115, San Antonio 105 (November 2)
Portland 109, San Antonio 100 (January 17)
San Antonio 111, Portland 109 (February 19)
San Antonio 103, Portland 90 (March 12)

West Round 1 Preview: (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Dallas Mavericks

Manu Ginobili's health is a key for San Antonio's success this postseason. He's seen here discussing his health with his doctor.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

By the Numbers:

San Antonio:
62-20 (32-9 Home, 30-11 Road)
PPG: 105.4 (6th); PPG Allowed: 97.6 (6th)
+7.7 Average Scoring Margin (1st)
Off Rating: 108.2 (6th); Def Rating: 100.1 (4th)
+8.1 Net Efficiency Rating (1st)

Dallas:
49-33 (26-15 Home; 23-18 Road)
PPG: 104.8 (8th); PPG Allowed: 102.4 (20th)
+2.4 Average Scoring Margin (12th)
Off Rating: 109.0 (3rd); Def Rating: 105.9 (22nd)
+3.1 Net Efficiency Rating (11th)

Season Series: San Antonio 4-0
San Antonio 116, Dallas 107 (December 26)
San Antonio 112, Dallas 90 (January 8)
San Antonio 112, Dallas 106 (March 2)
San Antonio 109, Dallas 100 (April 10)

Points In The Paint: Game 5 Recap

Danny Green is a mean lean three-shooting machine.

Here are five (mostly) unrelated observations from Game 5.

1. Danny Green Is Not Human and I Don’t Care What Your Evidence Says

Seriously, he’s shooting 25-for-38 from three in the series, which is just under 66 percent. It’s the most ridiculous display of unsustainable shooting I’ve ever seen.

Taking You to School Podcast: Game 5 and the Heat vs History

Join Suite Sports' Joe Parello and Jeremy Conlin for their weekly podcast with Roundball Daily's Kels Dayton. This week, the three discuss game five of the NBA Finals, and tackle the debates of Jordan vs LeBron and Kobe vs D-Wade.

Also, what to make of Doc Rivers, KG and Paul Pierce all possibly joining the Clippers.

Listen to internet radio with Real Fans Sports Radio on BlogTalkRadio

NBA Finals: Notes from Game 2

Chris Bosh had a strong Game 2 and is a key to the series for Miami.

By Bennett Corcoran

•    While his numbers in the first half may seem oddly pedestrian as LeBron James scored just four points on 2-7 shooting, it’s not as if he played poorly during that stretch. While he didn’t shoot the ball particularly well thanks to the lockdown defense of Kawhi Leonard, James drew double teams seemingly every time he touched the ball or the Heat ran a screen for him, opening up other players for wide open looks. While I was expecting LeBron to have one of “those games” in which he effortlessly drops 35+ points and takes over the third quarter like he has done on so many other occasions, he still orchestrated a huge run with Mario Chalmers to blow Game 2 out of proportion, even if the gaudy point totals weren’t there last night. Acting almost as a decoy, LeBron caused the Spurs to abandon shooters in the corners and leave unguarded Miami players under the hoop.

The (Probably Way Too Long) Suite Sports 2013 NBA Finals Preview

The 2013 NBA Finals could come down to coaching.

By Jeremy Conlin

Is it just me or did we take the circuitous route and end up at the same point we all thought we would end up at from the beginning of the season?

The Heat are taking on [insert strong Western Conference Champion here] for the NBA Championship. Yawn. Right?

We might have squabbled about which team would represent the Western Conference – I picked the Lakers and was very happy to be wrong. My second pick would have been San Antonio, and the popular pick seemed to be Oklahoma City. But we all knew we were basically going to end up with an iconic Heat-Somebody matchup. Either the storied, star-studded Lakers, the up-and-coming star-studded Thunder, or the Old Guard of the Spurs.