OKC's bench outshines starters

The Western Conference Championship is turning out to be the series of the best reserves. In Game 1, the Dallas Mavericks bench outscored Oklahoma City Thunder’s backups 53-22. In Game 2, the Thunder’s backups returned the favor by outscoring the Mavs reserves 50-29.
It was James Harden, Eric Maynor, Nick Collison and Daequan Cook that were the story of the night in Game 2, not Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook. The bench came up for big for the Thunder numerous times down the stretch last night. It was shocking to see that OKC coach Scott Brooks have so much faith in his bench and leave them in for so long, but as the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don’t fix it. The reserves were playing well and Coach Brooks took a chance and left them on the hardwood. Maybe a gutsy call, but Oklahoma now heads back home with the series even. As stated by Denzel Washington in his commencement speech last weekend at the University of Pennsylvania, “In order to get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.” That ‘something’ that Oklahoma is trying to obtain is a NBA Championship.
This series has been a perfect display of team effort. Many times superstars are given too much credit for winning games. The loose balls, extra passes, deflections and intangibles done by reserves are what helps a team win, not the facial dunk highlights or killer crossovers. Collison for example will never get credit for the work he does because his presence isn’t noticed in the box score. Every championship caliber team needs a Collinson-like player on their team.
With the series tied 1-1, Dallas needs to work on their defense. Young Oklahoma is nothing compared to the Los Angeles Lakers or Portland Trailblazers. I’m not saying that OKC is 20 times better than these teams, but there’s a reason why Kobe Bryant and Brandon Roy are in the comfort of their luxurious homes and watching the playoffs from the couch like me. Getting back to my point, Dallas held their previous opponents within double digits in the first and second round of the playoffs. The Thunder have past the century mark in both games and are using their young legs to an advantage against the older Mavericks. The Thunder aren’t the best defensive team either, but this is their style of play and they’ve consistently played this way this postseason.
This series may up end up going six or seven games. Dallas hasn’t lost since they blew a 23-point lead against Portland in the Game 4 of the first round, so it will be interesting to see how they bounce back. Similar to Chicago, they must win one of the next two games on the road or they may not return to big stage they once played on in 2006.