23 points – that’s how far behind the San Antonio Spurs (10-6) were in the middle of the second quarter. Instead of giving up, the host fights his way back with the help of a hot hand from downtown and improved defense. After a true thriller in the final minutes, the Spurs finally win 104:101 (BOXSCORE) against Oklahoma City Thunder (7-8). Russell Westbrook experiences an evening of oblivion.
The Thunders started immediately like the fire brigade. From the outset, they took advantage of the zone’s icy benefits, with Oklahoma City’s 18-0 run in the first quarter, combined with a strong defense and numerous spurs turnovers. In the second round, the visitors even extended their lead to 23 points before San Antonio finally woke up.
Little by little, the hosts continued to fight each other with smaller runs, but at halftime the game was again relatively tight (55:48 for the Thunder). After a fairly even third leg overall, the Sours were even able to equalize (78:78) – thanks in particular to Davis Bertans, who sunk three threesomes from the bank.
At the beginning of the final section, the Spurs even took the lead, but were unable to break away. With a slight advantage for the hosts, they entered the extremely exciting final phase of the game – in which both teams, however, left good chances of the free-throw line, for example, to lie recklessly.
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24 seconds to go, it was LaMarcus Aldridge (26 points, 8/14 FG, 9 rebounds), who brought his team into the lead after an offensive rebound (one of Aldridge’s 5) and a 3 point baseball. Then it got strange: After a series of offense rebounds at the other end of the court, Carmelo Anthony scuttled a threesome to make up for it – or didn’t he?
With the tips of his toes Melo had grazed the three-line line, instead of 3 points only 2 were credited to the Thunder. Accordingly, San Antonio was leading with 1 point and was able to extend the lead of Charity Stripe. Russell Westbrook’s last desperate attempt to equalise failed.
The Point Guard of the Thunder got a pitch black evening anyway. Westbrook had only 15 points, but he had enormous problems with his litter (5/22 FG). At least he got 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Paul George didn’t deliver a brilliant performance either, scoring 18 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Also with him the litter didn’t want to fall constantly (5/16 FG). Best man on the side of OKC was Anthony with 20 points and 6 rebounds.
Besides Aldridge, Danny Green (17 points, 6 rebounds) and Pau Gasol (14 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) performed well in the Spurs. After three victories in series, the Thunders suffered their first defeat – despite a 23-point advantage in the meantime.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Click here for the BOXSCORE!
Danny Green. It was the shooting guard who led his team’s comeback in the middle of the second quarter. Especially with his hot little hand from downtown (5/11 threesome) he gave the Spurs an important push. In addition to his scoring, he also filled the boxing score well with assists (4), steals (3) and blocks (2). In the defense against Russell Westbrook, Green was also able to convince.
Russell Westbrook. After a strong opening phase, the Point Guard fell sharply as the game progressed. On the one hand, this was due to the already mentioned strong defence of Green, but on the other hand also to Westbrook’s cast selection. Instead of creating more and more from the Pick & Roll, as in the beginning, halfway through, you could see two of the 29-year-old’s many isolations. However, they were not at all effective against the Spurs.
Sometimes basketball can be so easy: too many turnovers are bad! This was something San Antonio – and above all head coach Gregg Popovich, who is sometimes fierce and wild as hell – had to face painfully in the first half of the season. After the break, the spurs got this problem very well under control. After 10 ball losses in the first half of the match, the hosts only managed 13 Tunrover in the last 24 minutes. As a result, OKC could no longer exploit their strengths in the otherwise dangerous transition game, as they simply got fewer opportunities.