NBA Playoffs 2014: Serge Ibaka Returns To OKC! San Antonio Correct Once Again! Will His Presence Change The Fortunes Of The Floundering Thunder?

The NBA Playoffs 2014 is reaching its crescendo. One subplot that developed was the injury of Serge Ibaka which the Thunder claimed would set him out for the season.

Prior to the game, there were already murmurs of the NBA blocks leader's return. He missed the first two games which the Thunder lost in San Antonio-both by considerable margins.

The Thunder clearly missed Ibaka. The Spurs had a scoring party inside the paint-Parker kept penetrating and no one could contest the easy shots from his dish-offs. Kawhi Leonard overmatched all the inside players. They could not compensate for Ibaka's loss.

ESPN talked with Ibaka to address the issue:

Ibaka: "I'm trying to put my mind ready and if I'm going to feel better later, I'm going to go. For now, we're going to see if I feel better, because normally when you do this kind of workout, sometimes you can have pain later. So I'm going to see how I feel later and then I'm going to decide."

"It is my decision. At this point, it is my decision more than Coach [Scott Brooks] or the doctor. So it is my decision. And like I said, I went through some offense and defense this morning with my teammates. I'm going to put some ice [on the calf] and see how I'm going to feel later."

"It's 100 percent going to hurt. For sure if the doctor gives me the OK and I feel better tomorrow, I will be 100 percent with the pain for sure, but like I said, I'm going to do whatever it takes to help my team."

It can be recalled that Tony Parker and the rest of the Spurs were highly doubtful that Ibaka would miss the rest of the playoffs. They were not questioning the veracity of the injury but was merely avoiding a sense of complacency. Ibaka's presence will certainly change the game, especially on the defensive end.

UPDATE: Ibaka did return in Game 3, and he even started. The Spurs are correct once again.