S.A. question
Last year, the Spurs won more than twice as many games as the Thunder, but the four games between the two teams were split 2-2. No one’s quite sure how this happened; OKC GM Sam Presti admittedly learned his trade in San Antonio, but that was years ago. Whatever the reason, the Spurs have learned not to take Oklahoma City lightly, and that lesson got some reinforcement tonight: the Thunder came away with a 101-98 win, ending San Antonio’s home-victory streak at four.
Don’t be fooled by the score: this was a defensive struggle, pillar to post. The Thunder blocked ten Spurs shots; both sides pulled off eight steals. And Thabo Sefolosha kept Richard Jefferson totally bottled up all night, holding him to four points. Manu Ginobli made all seven of his free throws, but went 0-8 from the floor. The Spurs put up eighteen treys, and got a whole 9 points for their trouble.
Still, most of the other numbers were in a dead heat. Both sides shot around 47 percent; the Thunder made only two of twelve treys, a percentage no better than San Antonio’s; OKC had two more rebounds, 40 versus 38. Still, stalwart kids were stalwart: Russell Westbrook (19 points, 11 assists) and Jeff Green (21 points, 10 rebounds) turned in double-doubles — Westbrook managed no turnovers, which is always a good sign — and Kevin Durant dropped in his usual 25. If you want to give someone player of the game, though, give it to Sefolosha: whenever the Spurs had good looks, the Thabster, as often as anyone, made them go away.
A 2-1 road trip is nothing to sneer at. And the rest of the month is busy: the Clippers at the Ford tomorrow night, a trek to Florida to face Miami (Tuesday) and Orlando (Wednesday), back home on Friday for a visit from the Wizards, then out west again to meet the Lakers and the Jazz, finishing up at the Ford with the Bucks and the Rockets.
Radio guy Matt Pinto pointed out an oddity: there have been nine Thunder games this season, and in three of them the final score was 101-98. The previous two, however, were losses. If this score recurs this season … well, we’ll worry about that when it happens.
