Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (left) battles Tim Duncan (middle) and Danny Green of the Spurs for a rebound. (GETTY IMAGES)

The San Antonio game plan for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals was simple. Crowd Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden and put the onus on the offensively challenged Oklahoma City big men.

In theory it’s an excellent well-conceived idea by Gregg Popovich and the Spurs coaching staff. But what Popovich didn’t anticipate was 22 out of 25 baskets from Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, and Nick Collison. Ibaka was the biggest headache for the Spurs, as he made all 11 field goals he attempted and finished the night with 26 points.

When Popovich was asked how effective Ibaka was Saturday night he said, “Eleven for eleven, that’s pretty big effect.”

Ibaka was spectacular but Perkins wasn’t too shabby either, hitting seven of nine shots for 15 points. He had scored just 12 in the first three games. Add Collison’s eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and you have the recipe for victory and a 2-2 series.

So what’s the game plan for Popovich for the pivotal Game 5? “Maybe they’ll do it again, but I don’t think so,” the Spurs coach said. “We’re going to play the same defense, and if they don’t shoot as well it won’t be because of our defense it’ll be because they didn’t shoot as well. ”

San Antonio’s prove-it-to-me-again game plan will either send the Spurs into the NBA Finals or it will lead to a disappointing finish to a postseason that saw them run off 10 straight victories.  Popovich is not about to scrap his defensive plan just because Ibaka couldn’t miss.

Ibaka’s perfect night was the first 11-for-11 playoff game since 1985 when Celtics forward Scott Wedman tossed a perfect game against the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

“Obviously you try to put your attention on the big three [Durant, Westbrook, Harden] and you try to do a great job on them first, naturally. Their bigs came through and were outstanding. I think they were 22 of 25 or some crazy thing. If you do a shooting drill with nobody guarding you I don’t think you can do that.”

Former Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said the Spurs have bigger issues than scheming against Oklahoma City’s frontcourt players.

“Where are San Antonio’s shooters? They gotta find their rhythm again,” Mitchell said on NBA TV’s “Game Time.”

“Oklahoma City has taken them out of their comfort zone. They’re not getting those open shots because Tony Parker doesn’t have any driving lane,” Mitchell said. “[Parker] is not making that first pass that makes Oklahoma City rotate. Right now Oklahoma City is staying at home guarding their guy. Unless San Antonio can put them in rotation and get them out of position it’s gonna be tough for them to score.”

Mitchell added: “They were hedging toward Tony Parker and he kicked it out. Oklahoma City feels they’re athletic enough to get to San Antonio’s shooters. Ginobili is the only one who can pump fake and drive all the way to the basket. [Oklahoma City] is saying ‘if we can get Tony Parker out of the paint we can get to their shooters.’ And some of San Antonio shooters are gonna have to sacrifice their threes, show and go, that means take one dribble, get in the paint, and them make Oklahoma City rotate.”

Game 5 is going to be a war, and whoever wins Monday night will most likely win the series.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are a lethal combination for the Oklahoma City Thunder. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Kevin Durant may be Oklahoma City’s best player, but make no mistake about it Russell Westbrook is the fire that ignites the Thunder.

Whenever the Thunder needs to shift into high gear, head coach Scott Brooks points to his 23-year-old point guard to give the team a major boost. Whether its a steal, a 3-pointer, a spectacular dunk, an alley-oop pass, or a circus shot, Westbrook has been in the middle of almost every major run the Thunder have put together in the 2012 playoffs. He did in Game 4 in Los Angeles when he kept driving to the basket and refused to let the Lakers get too far. His relentless attacks kept the Thunder in the game long enough to set the stage for Kevin Durant’s cold-blooded 3-pointer to give OKC a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

In the close-out game Monday night in Oklahoma City, Westbrook was again the explosive catalyst in the pushing the Thunder past the Lakers.

With the game tied at 70 with four minutes left in the third quarter and the Lakers seemingly controlling the tempo of the game, Westbrook picked off a pass by Lakers guard Ramon Sessions and raced to the other end for what Brooks called the biggest play of the game. Watch Westbrook’s circus shot while being grabbed by Sessions.

Westbrook’s 3-point play ignited a 23-7 Thunder burst at the end of the third and the start of the fourth that eventually pushed OKC into the Western Conference finals and knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs. “Sessions grabbed me kinda early and just kinda threw it to the rim. Luckily it went in,” said Westbrook, who finished with 28 points in Game 5. “That sparked us, and everybody else. Kept it going from there.”

Brooks calls Westbrook a “special” player, and goes out of his way defending his point guard no matter how many times he shoots the ball or fires a pass into the third row. Durant is also on his good friend’s corner, saying the Thunder won’t win a championship unless Westbrook does what he does which is score the basketball.

Together, Durant and Westbrook are a lethal combination. Durant is the cold-blooded sniper, while Westbrook is the fearless soldier you want fighting in the front lines.

“Kevin [Durant] showed a lot of maturity. He never ever chimed in publicly. He always supported Westbrook,” said former Toronto coach Sam Mitchell. “These guys have a certain trust. Regardless of what we may think at times about a young point guard and his decision-making, and [Westbrook] has gotten a lot better at it, his biggest supporters are two guys: Scott Brooks, the head coach, and Kevin Durant.”

Westbrook is not a traditional point man. He led all guards in the NBA in points in the paint, and has developed a very good mid-range jump shot. He is fueled by raw emotion and he’s not as effective when you try to bottle him up in a system and make him into Steve Nash. He’s not Nash. He’s not Chris Paul. And he’s not Rajon Rondo. Much like the character Michael in the movie “Underworld,” he’s a hybrid. He has a unique skill set that needs to be unleashed and not harnessed.

When you have a championship thoroughbred in your stable, you don’t keep him locked up in the barn. You let him run. Westbrook is a thoroughbred who can score, and loves to score. So why turn him into something that he’s not? Let him shoot the ball.

The Thunder have been successful the past three seasons because the team’s general manager (Sam Presti), the head coach (Brooks), and the best player (Durant) are all in when it comes to Westbrook.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastbreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

All-Star guard Chris Paul remains in New Orleans for now, but he'll likely be wearing a different uniform this season. (US PRESSWIRE)

LeBron James opened a new can of worms last summer with his controversial “Decision.”

Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are now following James’ villainous lead, holding their teams hostage by refusing to sign long-term deals with their current teams. Paul is on his way to the Los Angeles Clippers after the Hornets were unable to convinced him to sign an extension. The Orlando Magic are on the brink of losing Howard, who recently told Orlando management that he wants to be traded.

If these storylines look and sound familiar it’s the same predicament the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets found themselves in 2010 when LeBron held the Cavaliers hostage before signing with the Miami Heat, and months later Carmelo Anthony practically followed LeBron’s lead by putting the Nuggets on pause until he found a new home with the New York Knicks.

This player power play is the very reason why NBA owners wanted to change the system. Small-market teams don’t want another LeBron or Carmelo situation in which they were left empty-handed and nothing to showcase for their fans. Teams want a headliner to fill seats. The Hornets will feel the sting of losing Paul, considered one of the top points guards in the league and a four-time NBA All-Star. Even though the Hornets got some nice pieces in the trade – Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and a first-round pick – you don’t give up a Chris Paul and get equal value. The same goes for the Magic. Should Howard leave Orlando, how are the Magic going to satisfy their season-ticket holders at new Amway Center without the best center in the game today? These are legitimate concerns by the owners, but their hands seem to be tied because today’s stars seem determined to dictate where they want to go.

“First and foremost, we want Dwight to re-sign here,” Magic president Alex Martins said. “We’re going to continue to give him every resource, every asset that he needs and that we need to be successful. I think we’re proven that over the course of the last four years in particular, but certainly his entire time here. Only two other teams in the league have won more than we have over the last four years.”

An Orlando Magic fan shows her support for Dwight Howard during the third quarter of game five of the 2011 NBA playoffs at Amway Center. (US PRESSWIRE)

Howard publicly criticized the Magic recently for not doing enough to meet his demands. His wise list, of course, includes big-market, sexy teams like the Lakers (so he could join forces with Kobe Bryant), the Mavericks (so he could play with Dirk Nowitzki), and the Nets (so he could play with Deron Williams). The Magic went through this before with Shaquille O’Neal in 1996, and it took the franchise nearly a decade before they were able to recover from Shaq’s departure.

It’s a little baffling that current star players are hell-bent on joining other stars. It is definitely a complete turn from the 1980s and ’90s when megastars such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan would never dream of playing elsewhere. What ever happened to competitive ego? Twenty years ago, superstars preferred to build their own niche and won championships as the centerpiece. Now, it seems today’s stars are more than willing to share the limelight with other all-stars.

“Gone are the days when teams are built around [star players] and they end their careers there,” said former Toronto Raptors coach Sam Mitchell. “These players today are about quick gratification. They see guys moving around and they see guys having success [elsewhere]. So what you have to do is make the best deal you can. Try to make a deal, get young players , draft picks, be bad for a couple of years and suck it up.”

Paul says he wanted out of New Orleans because he didn’t think he had a chance to win a title with the Hornets. Howard’s Magic career so far has been defined by his numerous failures in the playoffs and the big man is becoming impatient with each passing season. However, not everybody can play in L.A. or New York. Someone has to play in these small markets.

Message to Dwight: Suck it up and try to win in Orlando instead of riding someone’s tail.