Spurs VS Thunder (Game 3)

Spurs Lead Series 2-1

The Spurs came through as they took back home-court advantage. They looked great defensively and fought to the end.

Defensively, the Spurs were sound. They gave Westbrook the shots they wanted him to take. As a result, Westbrook ended up shooting 32.3% from the field. The Spurs also did a great job containing Kevin Durant as they limited his shot attempts by squashing him in the pick and roll. Westbrook and Durant had a combined total of 10 turnovers due to the Spurs defense. The Spurs as a team only had 8 turnovers.

Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge were amazing for their respected teams. They played with heart and scored at will. They both had a combined 55 points. I don't see how a team could even stop these two. And when you throw in the fact that Tony Parker was playing great, you really can't beat them. Tony Parker had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Russell Westbrook has been very lackadaisical on defense and really allowed Tony Parker to score. Tony Parker took 11 uncontested shots and made 7 of them. He took only 3 contested shots and didn't make 1. Westbrook has played horrible defensively and that defense will not win you games.

The Spurs are in control of the series and the effort from Westbrook isn't helping them. I'm sure the Thunder wish they still had D.J. Augustine because they could sure use a talented point guard like him right now.

Spurs VS Thunder (Game 2)

Series Tied 1-1

You could say this game came down to the last play. Maybe Popovich should have called time out. Maybe there should have been a foul called on the inbounds. Maybe Patty Mills shouldn't of shot that 3. Anything could have happened. But more importantly, it was too close of a game for either game to like.

Let's start by saying that the Thunder played great defense. They looked like they actually wanted to win. Durant did a great job of rotating and guarding Kawhi. Tim Duncan was brutal in this game because of the great defense from Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams. The Thunder had the effort that they didn't have in game 1. They were defensively sound.

The Thunder's offense was really fluid. Kevin Durant is my player of the game. Not only was he great defensively, but he scored on Kawhi Leonard at will, and he did it efficiently. He had 28 points in the game. Russell Westbrook was finding players and rebounding as usual as he had 29 points in the game. The Thunder were just hard to beat.

Even though the Thunder had a good game, the Spurs lost by 1 points. A basket would have won the game. Let's face it, the Spurs just had a bad game, yet they still were so close to winning. The Thunder had 18 turnovers in the game. This hurt them as the Spurs had 24 points off turnovers. The Thunder need to cut that down. They also can't let LaMarcus Aldridge get 41 points. He is too talented of a player and he has carried a team before. You can't let this guy be that efficient.

I really enjoyed this game despite the controversy about some of the no-call towards the end of the game. The Thunder need to make some adjustments because the Spurs won't continue to shoot like this. That just isn't them.

Spurs VS Thunder (Game 1)

Spurs Lead Series 1-0

The Spurs took down the Thunder like they took down the Grizzlies. They not only dominated them on the offensive end but the defensive end as well. Let's take a quick look at this game.

Now, a great offensive team is tough to beat. But when you throw in great defense as well, that team is almost impossible to beat. They held the Thunder, which happens to be one of the best offensive teams in the league, to just 92 points. The Spurs had 124 points. That dominating offensively and defensively. OKC never lead in the game. The Spurs got off running and never looked back. At one point they lead by as much as 42 points. The Spurs killed them with their great ball movement and amazing defense. If you looked at the Spurs, they ran tons of pick and roll plays with LaMarcus Aldridge as the roll man. Plenty of times, he would pop out. The defense would either leave him open or leave Danny Green open from 3. Either way it was a no win situation. To add on to this, the Thunder had horrible defensive rotations and were almost always a couple steps too slow. But it was tough. The Spurs had 39 assists in the game. They were moving the ball so much that it wore out the Thunder. If they are to win, they need to see a much better effort from Russell Westbrook as well.

One thing that most people thought was going to be a problem was Tony Parker guarding Russell Westbrook. The defended him really well in the paint and made him force up tough angles on shots. This seemed to really get in Westbrook's head. He shot just 26.3% from the field. You can see his shot chart below.

Russell Westbrook - Shot Chart - www.nba.com/stats

 The Spurs walked through this game with no problems. The Thunder's defensive effort was very poor and they are going to have to play much better defensively for them to put up a fight to win. You aren't going to outscore the Spurs, you need to play defense and get this Spurs team to quiet down with their ball movement. That's how they are going to have to win.

Fantasy Fridays: Rebounders

Rebounders can give you a great amount of points, especially if your league gives you a great amount of points for boards. So why not give you the best rebounders for the 2015-16 season.

10. LaMarcus Aldridge: Last season he averaged 10.2 RPG. Now that he is with the Spurs, I expect that to go up since he doesn't have a great rebounding center like Robin Lopez. Not to mention, LaMarcus is most likely going to be more focused on rebounding and more and not as focused on scoring.

9. Rudy Gobert: The rising increase in popularity for Rudy Gobert isn't for no reason, and he has the numbers to prove it. Last season he averaged 9.5 RPG, but it obviously increased since the second half of the season. Gobert is going to be hard to get though, since he is rated so high on the rankings and I really don't recommend drafting him so high at where he is positioned.

8. Nikola Vucevic: This man is a boss on the boards, and is very underrated. Vucevic will give you boards but I don't expect his numbers to rise. In fact, I expect his numbers to decrease. The reason why is that his team is stacked with developing players that are really athletic and can rebound that basketball. I honestly don't think he will average 10.9 RPG next season.

7. Hassan Whiteside: Trust me, this guy will get a minutes increase. He won't be playing as much as LeBron of course, but he will average more minutes. That means his 10 RPG from last season, will increase. Chris Bosh isn't a rebounder, and Hassan is going to be the Heat's main man for rebounding.

6. Anthony Davis: Some people say Davis is the best fantasy player in the NBA. I say, yeah, he is. And his rebound numbers show why. However, Davis is not the best rebounder, and his rebounding numbers will not go up. The problem is, there is only so much numbers you can put up in a game, and most likely he will be more focused on offense as Asik will be focused on rebounds.

5. Kevin Love: After having a down season, I expect Kevin Love to have a major increase in his numbers, especially in his rebounds category. Love has been a top 5 rebounder and has had amazing rebounding when he was with the Wolves. I don't think his numbers will be back to his Minnesota times, but I think he will average a great amount of points.

4. DeMarcus Cousins: Why isn't he higher? Well, Willey Cauley-Stein is going to take some of his rebounding numbers, it is as simple as that. He is going to be a top rebounder, he just won't do as good.

3. Greg Monroe: You are probably saying, "Aaron, what is wrong with you?" What, you don't believe me? Greg Monroe averaged 10.2 RPG while his teammate averaged 13.5 RPG. Now that he is with the Bucks, he will see a big increase in rebounds. He could average over 14 RPG next season.

2. DeAndre Jordan: 15 RPG last season. What else do I need to say. Not much. He lead the league in rebounding last season, that is all you need to know.

1. Andre Drummond: He averaged 13.5 RPG and that will likely increase. Now that his teammate, Greg Monroe, that averaged 10.2 RPG last season, is now with the Bucks, Drummond is going to be the best rebounder in the NBA. He will be unstoppable on the board and he is an unknown player. Drummond is the best rebounder to get next season.

Fantasy Fridays: Power Forwards

Power Forwards will give you rebounding and blocks. The best ones are the ones that will give you multiple 3 pointers. Power Forwards are necessary to having a great fantasy team. If you have ones that are dominant in the post and can stretch the floor, it's very beneficial. So you want some great PF's, well here are the top 10.

10. Thaddeus Young: Now with the Nets, he will have to take on a bigger scoring load. I certainly can see the PF averaging at least 16 PPG. One big thing is that he is a power forward that can steal the ball. He averaged 1.6 steals last season. He will also knock down a couple of 3s from time to time. He knows his role and I expect Thadd to do great next season.

9. Serge Ibaka: Averaging 2.5 blocks per game last season, Serge was doing great. He averaged 14.3 PPG last season, however, with Kanter, Durant, and Westbrook, I fear that could decline. However, that isn't was it is about for Serge because it's the little things that matter for him. Serge averages 7.8 rebounds, 0.5 steals, and shoots a great 37.6% from 3 points range and makes about 1 per game. Serge will get you quite a few things that many PFs will not.

8. Pau Gasol: Pau is going to have his numbers drop this next season no doubt. He really isn't that best fantasy player and struggles with consistency. While he averaged a double-double, that will be most likely not the case next year. I have a strong feeling that he will average around 15 PPG next season and about 8 rebounds, mainly because of Derrick Rose returning, and the rise of Jimmy Butler.

7. Paul Millsap: The Hawks played great last year, and Paul Millsap had a lot to do with that. Millsap last year averaged 16.7 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 3.1 APG, 0.9 Blocks, and 1.8 steals. No doubt he will continue this next year and could find an increase in points and rebounds. I would assume that Millsap will be a great fantasy player to grab.

6. Dirk Nowitzki: He is a lights out shooter and will be great to have on your fantasy team as always. Dirk is getting old however and his PPG will most likely drop a little. He was never the best rebounder, so don't get him for that reason. But Dirk will shoots lights out from FT, 3, and FG.

5. Kevin Love: Hopefully, he will have a better season than last year. That's what we hope. And if are hopes come true, fantasy owners with him on their team, will be rewarded. Kevin Love used to have 26 PPG and 13 RPG with the Wolves but production sure has slowed down with the Cavs. Hopefully the Cavs will incorporate him into the offense a little more and he will have an increase in stats.

4. Chris Bosh: he averaged over 20 PPG last season, and hopefully he will do the same after his recovery from the blood clots on his lungs. The only problem with Bosh is he isn't the best rebounder and doesn't have much else to offer other than scoring. So that is what I recommend using him for, scoring.

3. LaMarcus Aldridge: He is definitely going to have one of his best seasons yet and I expect his defensive numbers to rise. LaMarcus will no doubt get more rebounds than ever and will be faced with lots more assists and scoing opportunities in the Popovich system. Aldridge is going to be a great fantasy player this year so pick him up if you can.

2. Anthony Davis: 24.4 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.5 Steals, 2.9 Blocks, 80% FT, and 53.5% FG in his 3rd season. Nuff Said...

1. Blake Griffin: "What, this can't be right, Blake Griffin in front of Anthony Davis! How can this be!" Yeah, well guess what. The 2015 playoffs were unlike anything we have ever seen from Blake Griffin and I personally think that Blake is about to enter Stardom. In 14 games in the playoffs, Blake averaged 25.5 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 6.1 APG, 1 Steal per game, and 1 block per game. I figure that this will continue into the 2015-16 season and it will also improve. I have a feeling that Blake will be doing some stuff that we have never seen from anyone before and I think Blake will be the ultimate fantasy player to get. With Chris Paul slowly decreasing on the scoring side, I expect Blake to take on an even bigger scoring load.

Well, there you have it. The Power Forwards will most likely be the best fantasy position this year. There is so much talent so make sure you stock up on some great PFs.