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3 pairings that will decide the Western Conference finals

Kelley L Cox / USA TODAY Sports

It's not the conference finals showdown most anticipated, but it may well prove to be the most exciting possible matchup, as the record-breaking Golden State Warriors take on the giant-slaying Oklahoma City Thunder with a Finals berth on the line.

Here are three pairings in the series that will decide which team ends up playing for the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Draymond Green and Kevin Durant

The Thunder leveraged a number of sneaky tactical edges in order to overcome the formidable San Antonio Spurs in the second round, but the biggest reason they won is that Kevin Durant was a human torch, who overcame even the octopus-armed defense of Kawhi Leonard to light up San Antonio.

The Thunder lost all three games they played against the Warriors this season, but don't lay that at Durant's feet. He averaged 36.3 points, 12 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in those games, while shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from 3-point range.

The Warriors' best counter is Draymond Green, who will be tasked with muscling Durant out of post position, tracking him around screens, and trying to simultaneously close out on his threes and prevent blow-bys. Green has the strength, length, physicality, and quickness to do it as well as anyone, but at the end of the day, you're always picking a poison with Durant, whose height advantage over Green is not insignificant.

The Warriors will throw a lot of different looks at Durant - including hard traps to get the ball out of his hands - and Andre Iguodala will likely see his own fair share of time as Durant's primary defender. But Green's ability to handle him one-on-one will dictate a lot of what Golden State is able to do holistically on defense.

Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook

The game's two best point guards - and arguably its two most electric players, full stop - Stephen Curry and Russel Westbrook do their damage in completely different ways: Curry with his bamboozling handle, lightning-quick release, and boundless range; Westbrook with his devastating first step, explosive forays to the rim, and collide-with-everything recklessness.

They both warp defenses, but in their own unique fashion. While Curry's gravity puts defenders on their toes, constantly thinking about springing forward and closing space, Westbrook forces them on their heels, backpedaling as they try to corral him, seal off his avenues to the hoop.

It's unlikely they'll spend much time guarding each other - Klay Thompson should draw the Westbrook assignment, while Andre Roberson will likely start on Curry - but no two players will spend as much time with the ball in their hands this series. Westbrook struggled mightily in the season series, shooting 34.7 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from long range. Curry, meanwhile, did this. Westbrook will get his shot at redemption. Curry is whetting the knife. Get your damn popcorn ready.

Small-ball and Tall-ball

The Thunder improbably swung their series against the Spurs by unlocking a startling effective, ultra-big formula: Playing Steven Adams and Enes Kanter, ostensibly their two centers, alongside one another. Adams-Kanter was their best two-man combo in the series, registering an astounding 21.8 net rating, and an equally astounding 66.7 percent rebound rate.

The sample size (66 minutes) is far from conclusive, but that's still more than 13 minutes per game (they didn't play the two together in Game 1) in which the Thunder grabbed two-thirds of all available rebounds, including nearly half of their own misses.

On the other side, you have the Warriors, who've decimated teams all season long with their "Death Lineup" featuring Green at center. If both teams opt to stick with what's worked, this could well come down to a staring contest, with each team trying to force the other to adapt.

The Warriors love to run off opponents' misses, but they can't well do that if the Thunder are getting extra possessions every other time down the floor. Kanter, though, can't really defend in space, and unlike the plodding, mid-range oriented Spurs, the Warriors are spacing incarnate. So, you might see the Warriors run the Adams-Kanter duo off the floor and force the Thunder to downsize, or the Thunder dominate the glass and the interior to the extent they force the Warriors to match size with size. Who blinks first?

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