Full disclosure here, I’ve been a San Antonio Spurs fan for as long as I can remember.

Justin says there’s no way Russell Westbrook can come close to his Game 5 performance again.

There isn’t a franchise in sports that I follow more closely than the Spurs. Starting at the top with Peter Holt and R.C. Buford, down to deep bench players such as Jeff Ayres and Matt Bonner, I know them all. The franchise has had tremendous success over the past 17 years since Tim Duncan came into the league. The Spurs’ streak of 15 consecutive 50-win seasons is largely unprecedented in the world of sports. With all that being said, life is no longer so sweet for my beloved Spurs.

The Spurs are a disciplined team that led the league in assists and 3-point shooting during the regular season. They didn’t have a single player average 30 minutes per game during their 62-win campaign. Gregg Popovich has become known as the leader who will rest his starters whenever he deems it necessary. Many of us refer to this move as “Getting Pop’d” in the DFS world. Last night, Popovich went back to the well. Beginning at the 6:46 mark of the 3rd quarter and with the Spurs trailing the Thunder 69-49, Pop pulled Tiago Splitter, Danny Green, and Tony Parker. At the 5:33 mark the lead had ballooned to 25, so Pop pulled Tim Duncan. Kawhi Leonard soon followed suit with 4:39 left. As a long-time fan, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that none of the “Big-4″ would return. Sure enough, Pop stuck to his guns and let his aging core rest, much to the chagrin of Spurs fans everywhere.

Here’s the thing. Pop knows what he’s doing. By letting his stars rest, which was something that he has done consistenly for years, he not only allowed them to be better prepared for Game 5 on Thursday, but instilled confidence in his bench players. Popovich’s Spurs have been to the NBA Finals five times. They were 4-0 before last season, and were two missed defensive rebounds away from moving to 5-0. Then they were stunned by Ray Allen, but that’s a different story for another day.

The advantage the Spurs have against Oklahoma City is their depth. The Spurs have NINE players who averaged at least eight points per game during the regular season. The Thunder have four. Russell Westbrook had one of, if not the best game of his entire career last night, and combined with Kevin Durant to score 71 of the Thunder’s 105 points. Two players being the entire offense for a team is not a proven recipe for winning championships in the NBA. It is not a viable solution, mainly because it is incredibly unlikely that Westbrook and Durant can replicate that performance in Game 5. They need some help from the rest of the team, and that has been the Thunder’s downfall all season. If the two-headed monster can find a way to perform at that level again, the Spurs are in big trouble. I just don’t see it happening.

Scott Brooks could learn a thing or two from Gregg Popovich and his unorthodox strategies. Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka combined to play 121 minutes last game. Despite leading by at least 12 points for the entire second half, Brooks still didn’t pull his Big-3 until 1:07 left in the 4th. By contrast, Duncan, Parker, Leonard, Green, and Ginobili ALL combined to play 102 minutes. Youth is certainly an advantage at times, but a more experienced team having fresh legs going into a Game 5 at home could be a huge advantage.

Taking nothing away from the Thunder and their performances in Games 3 and 4, and putting on my blinders as a biased fan, I do see the Spurs winning Game 5. I’m not naive enough to predict that the Spurs cruise to victory in Game 6 either. Neither of these teams have even put up a fight on the road yet in this series. Home court advantage is key, and I look for the Spurs to finish them off at home in Game 7.

In NBA history, the team who wins Game 5 in a series tied 2-2 goes on to win the series 82% of the time. But then again, the Spurs did just that last year against Miami in the NBA Finals. We all know how that story ended.