Notebook: Spurs 107, Thunder 96

By Tim Price, for NBA.com
Posted Sunday February 5, 2012 12:21AM

THE FACTS: On a night when Tony Parker became the Spurs all-time assist leader, he still reminded everyone at AT&T Center on Saturday that he's a score-first point guard no matter what the record book says. Parker passed Avery Johnson with 4,477 career assists for San Antonio, but his 42-point outburst fueled by 16-of-29 shooting roused the Spurs to a rather easy-looking 107-96 victory over Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City.

Kawhi Leonard, a rookie who started with the expressed purpose of guarding Kevin Durant, according to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, made Durant work on the defensive end by hitting 5-of-7 shots (all three of his 3-pointers and both free throws), grabbing six rebounds and handing out five assists. The Spurs (16-9) are a league-best 13-1 at home.

Durant still led the Thunder with 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Thunder (18-5) lost for only the third time in 16 games and the fourth time in 13 road games.

QUOTABLE: "Pop got onto to (Parker) about trying to score the ball, that we needed it tonight. He stepped up and he did just that. Once he got rolling he just kind of took over the game. It was great. He came to me and said he wanted me to hit the next shot (to break the assist record). After I hit it I realized why. It was great."
-- Tim Duncan, who has been a teammate of both Avery Johnson and Parker.

THE STAT: Durant lined up across Leonard and must have been watering at the mouth at the prospect of a rookie guarding him. Durant fired up eight shots in the first quarter, but just 11 after that. His 22 points was his lowest output since a 20-pointer six games back while playing only 29 minutes in a blowout victory over Detroit.

TURNING POINT: San Antonio led by two points 4:45 into the second quarter when the Spurs got on one of their rolls from the 3-point line. San Antonio went 4-of-4 from past the arc the rest of the half with four different players accounting for the barrage (Danny Green, Leonard, Matt Bonner and then Richard Jefferson) and took a 57-47 lead into the locker room. The Thunder trimmed that lead to less than double digits just three times after that and trailed by as many as 24.

QUOTABLE II: "I thought Tony Parker had his way with us. It's all about stopping the basketball, and we didn't do a very good job of that. That was as aggressive as I've seen (Parker) in a long time -- 29 shots; he's usually not that aggressive. He's not an old guy. He's a young, good player."
-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks

HOT: Not only did Parker shoot 55 percent from the floor, he made 12 trips to the free-throw line and hit 10. The Spurs were 21-of-25 at the foul line compared to Oklahoma City's 17-of-28 -- 61 percent.

NOT: Gary Neal usually is a hot hand for the Spurs in his role off the bench, but he went 1-of-8 against Oklahoma City (1-of-5 from the 3-point line) and over the last four games is 10-of-34 from the floor (29 percent). But with Parker clicking, Neal can afford cooling off for a while.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Parker's 42 points was his best since another 42-pointer in the 2009 playoffs against Dallas. He had nine assists tonight and is averaging 28 points the past three games

INSIDE THE ARENA: Spurs public-address announcer "Big Kev" Brock informed the sellout crowd of 18,581 at AT&T Center that Parker had passed Johnson's franchise assists record quickly after Duncan hit a jumper from the top of the key with 4:45 to go in the third quarter. Parker, with the arena's spotlights shining on him, walked back out onto the floor and waved while acknowledging the standing ovation.

GOOD MOVE: Popovich said he would have been happy to have Durant score less than 40 points with the rookie Leonard guarding him. But the Spurs were not shy about getting the ball in Leonard's hands and making Durant work on the defensive end. Leonard was pump-faking and getting Durant in the air to draw fouls. And early in the second half Leonard locked into Durant on an inbounds pass and evoked from referee Leon Wood a rare double-personal foul for his fourth. Durant played less than four minutes in the fourth quarter.

BAD MOVE: Bonner was chased off the 3-point line by a pair of OKC defenders in the first half, so he drove around them and attempted to make a power move to the basket. But Kendrick Perkins essentially told Bonner that he was no Blake Griffin by blocking the slam-dunk attempt.

ROOKIE WATCH: Leonard was a plus-15 in his 31 minutes -- most sharing the floor with scorers like Durant and Russell Westbrook. Reggie Jackson played 17 minutes for Oklahoma City, hitting 4-of-7 (2-of-3 3-pointers) for 20 points.

NOTABLE: This was the first of a five-game road trip for Oklahoma City. The Spurs start a nine-game trip Monday at Memphis, where they won five days ago. They won't return home to play until Feb. 29. ... The four-game winning streak is a season best for San Antonio. ... The Thunder are now 9-4 on the road and were trying to stay on pace to match a franchise-best 12-3 set seven years ago when the team was based in Seattle. ... The Spurs have won seven of the last eight against Oklahoma City.

UP NEXT: For the Thunder, Monday @ Portland, Tuesday @ Golden State, Thursday @ Sacramento. For the Spurs, Monday vs. Memphis, Wednesday @ Philadelphia, Saturday @ New Jersey.