Tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET ESPN will air a rematch of last season's Western Conference Finals, pitting the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder (41-30) against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs (44-26) in a major tilt that can be live streamed free by clicking this link. Thunder fans can listen to the radio broadcast on WWLS 98.1, while Spurs fans may do likewise by tuning in to 1200 WOAI.
San Antonio lost last night to the Dallas Mavericks, but their play of late has been closer to postseason caliber than it had been all season. They will provide a test to the Oklahoma City Thunder about their readiness to make a deep playoffs run without reigning MVP Kevin Durant, who has been shut down indefinitely with foot soreness.
Point guard Russell Westbrook has admirably carried the Thunder, but even he admitted there's no replacing Durant.
"You can never get used to playing without one of the best players in the world," Westbrook said of Durant. "But our job is to come out and compete every night at a high level."
Westbrook has certainly done that, as have his teammates. The Thunder have won four straight games, including a March 20 victory over the top team in the East, the Atlanta Hawks.
While Durant's offense is sorely missed, trade deadline addition Enes Kanter has done his best to fill the void. Kanter is scoring 21.6 points and grabbing 12.6 boards in the last eight OKC games; the Thunder are 6-2 in that span.
With the Thunder Kanter has upped his scoring and rebounding by three points and three boards, while he's passing a bit more.
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