Sideline fail
Thirty-two seconds to play, the Spurs are up two, and Russell Westbrook does the inbound — and steps on the line. Instant turnover. It was that kind of night. The Thunder did get the stop, but they couldn’t follow with the shot, and San Antonio, winning 99-96, squeaked in front of Oklahoma City in the standings by dint of having won the season series 3-1. I didn’t even bother looking around for Eva Longoria, reasoning that hubby Tony Parker’s hand injury would keep him off the active list.
In the absence of Parker, the slack was taken up by George Hill, who’s never scored 27 points before, and Roger Mason, Jr., who came up with timely treys. (Given the Thunder’s lacktion — 2-13 — from beyond the arc, I suppose any of Mason’s treys could be considered timely.) The Spurs, like the Thunder, had lost the first half of a back-to-back, but neither team really looked tired; in fact, no one played more than 40 minutes except Kevin Durant.
And KD made every minute count, coming up with 45 points, tying his season high. Jeff Green, despite foul trouble, stuck it out for half an hour and 16 points; Russell Westbrook, presumably over whatever was ailing him yesterday, added 12.
How close is the West? The Thunder were knocking on the door to fourth place last week, and now they’re seventh, just one game ahead of Portland. And while seventh isn’t exactly the sweet spot, it beats the hell out of eighth, and a first-round matchup with the Lakers — or ninth, and a trip to the lottery. Things are about to get even hairier.
