Spurs-Thunder Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Jan 08 2012 1:45AM

The San Antonio Spurs' offense hasn't skipped a beat since leading scorer Manu Ginobili injured his left hand.

It might not slow down against the Oklahoma City Thunder, either.

In an early matchup of division leaders, the surging Spurs look to win their seventh in a row over the Thunder, who are completing a back-to-back-to-back stretch Sunday night.

San Antonio (6-2) appeared to be in trouble when it found out Wednesday that Ginobili and his 17.4-point average would be out for at least two months because of a fractured hand.

Instead, the Southwest Division leaders responded to the discouraging news by beating Golden State later Wednesday night and crushing Dallas 93-71 a day later. They then cooled off red-hot Denver on Saturday, erupting for a season high in points in a 121-117 victory.

A different player has stepped up in each game of the winning streak, with Tony Parker scoring a season-high 21 against the Warriors and reserve Matt Bonner finishing with a season-best 17 against the defending champs. Danny Green became the latest to lead the way, scoring a career-high 24 on Saturday.

"Manu's down and everybody's got to step their game up," Green said. "Luckily I've gotten the opportunity to do so. When I got in I just give as much effort defensively, that's my job. Hopefully everything falls into place hopefully offensively, and (Saturday) things did."

Green, who came in averaging 5.4 points, was one of seven Spurs to reach double figures, as Parker and Richard Jefferson added 19 apiece.

"We're going to have to focus," said Jefferson, who's averaged 17.3 points - hitting 13 of 20 3-pointers - since Ginobili went down. "We're going to have to play better, sharper. We have less room for error. Different people are going to have to step up."

The Spurs had no shortage of production in winning last season's three meetings with the Thunder.

San Antonio, which has won six straight over Oklahoma City since a 101-98 loss Nov. 14, 2009, averaged 109.0 points and shot 50.9 percent from 3-point range (29 of 57) in last season's series.

Bonner was one of the surprising leaders for the Spurs, hitting 10 of 12 3-pointers and averaging 12.7 points. It was his highest-scoring average against any team last season.

Parker led all Spurs, averaging 19.3 points on 56.4 percent shooting.

The Thunder (7-2) enter this meeting as the top team in the Western Conference, but are facing the difficult challenge of playing a third game in as many days.

After beating the Rockets 109-94 on Friday, Northwest-leading Oklahoma City won in Houston 98-95 the following night.

The Thunder had some trouble in the rematch, trailing by three points with 1:53 remaining, but Kevin Durant scored eight of his 27 points the rest of the way. He hit a jumper with 23 seconds left to put Oklahoma City up by one, then nailed a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining.

"I made a few (big shots), but I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be," said Durant, who was 10 of 25 from the floor. "I think I cared about it too much, so now, I'm just letting it play out. Whatever happens, happens. I'm still confident in myself that I can make those shots. Hopefully, I make more shots."

Durant averaged 23.0 points - 4.7 fewer than his league-leading average - in the Thunder's losses to the Spurs last season.

Russell Westbrook, meanwhile, has shot 32.6 percent in his last five games against San Antonio.

Thunder beat Spurs 108-96 to win 3rd in 3 nights

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Jan 08 2012 10:45PM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Oklahoma City Thunder became the first team to win three games in three nights during the NBA's condensed schedule this season, and they managed to make it look easy.

Kevin Durant had 21 points and 10 rebounds, reserve James Harden scored 20 and the Thunder rested their starters throughout the fourth quarter in a 108-96 victory against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

"I just think the big thing was not to dwell on it and not make too much out of it. It's not sometimes as bad as people think," said Nick Collison, who had his first double-double by recording season bests of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"I'm glad it happened earlier in the year. I think that was a positive but I think we all felt fine."

The Thunder were also able to rest their starters throughout the fourth quarter on the front end of the back-to-back-to-back after leading Houston by 21 through three.

This time, they outscored San Antonio 37-21 in the third to build a 22-point cushion.

"I knew our guys were going to compete and they were going to give everything they had for the three games. You were hoping that you could win them all," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said.

"Fortunately for us, we did."

The Spurs, already without Manu Ginobili because of a broken left hand, played without point guard Tony Parker after he came out of the game and walked to locker room midway through the third quarter. He returned to the bench a few minutes later, and a team spokesman said Parker was fine and could have played.

DeJuan Blair also pulled himself from the game after he cramped up just after halftime. He didn't come back either.

Gary Neal, who scored a team-high 18 points, would not let their absences be an excuse.

"I just think a couple turnovers here, and their athletes were able to get out and run the lane, and the score ballooned on us," Neal said.

Parker left near the beginning of a 25-8 run that put the game away for Oklahoma City.

Russell Westbrook hit a driving layup and then set up Serge Ibaka for a three-point play to start it, and rookie Reggie Jackson's 3-pointer with 7 seconds left in the third quarter stretched the lead to 91-67.

Oklahoma City outscored San Antonio 13-0 in fast-break points in the quarter. The Spurs had a 15-8 advantage the rest of the game.

"One of our keys to the game was transition defense. In that third quarter, they got started with the transition with Russell and before you knew it, it was an eight-point game and then it was a 14-point game and a 20-point game," Neal said. "It kind of got away from us."

Durant needed only three more assists to record his first career triple-double but instead kept busy in the fourth quarter by getting up to give pointers to his teammates. After Durant spent an entire free throw sequence chatting with reserve Lazar Hayward, who was in the game, he shared a laugh with Brooks on the way back to the bench.

"I gave him my coaching notes just to make sure if he wanted to finish out the game," Brooks said. "Kevin loves the game. There's so many things that we all see in Kevin every day and sometimes we take for granted, but I like the fact that players love other players to do well."

Spurs star Tim Duncan didn't play in the last period either as the deficit remained in double digits.

Westbrook finished with 13 points and five assists in under 25 minutes and Jackson - taking over Eric Maynor's role as the backup point guard - had 11 points and four assists. Maynor sustained a season-ending knee injury in the Thunder's 98-95 win at Houston on Saturday night that allowed them to become the first to win the first two games of a back-to-back-to-back.

"It just shows you the depth that we have on this team. We have 10 guys in the rotation, so any given night any guy can step up and make plays," Harden said.

"These three games, we really needed it and we got the job done."

Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Sacramento and the Los Angeles Lakers had all failed to win three straight games on consecutive nights this season.

Oklahoma City finished it off and even had time to rest the starters, running away after Richard Jefferson's 3-pointer to start the second half got San Antonio within 54-51.

Westbrook answered with a 3 and his fast-break layup restored the lead to double digits at 65-54 after an 11-3 burst. Parker came out a few minutes later and the Spurs never mounted a comeback.

Rookie Kawhi Leonard had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Jefferson also scored 13 for San Antonio. The Spurs never led after the first quarter and gave up a run of nine straight points to the Thunder reserves to start the second period.

NOTES: Blair and Oklahoma City's Kendrick Perkins earned double technical fouls after a scuffle in the second quarter. ... Danny Green, who scored a career-high 24 points in San Antonio's 121-117 win at Denver on Saturday, didn't score until hitting two 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds with the game out of hand. ... During the lockout-shortened 1999 season, there were eight sweeps in the 64 back-to-back-to-back sets.

Notebook: Thunder 108, Spurs 96

By Randy Renner, for NBA.com
Posted Sunday January 8, 2012 10:42PM

THE FACTS: Playing their third game in as many nights, the Oklahoma City Thunder looked anything but tired in blowing past the San Antonio Spurs 108-96 for their eighth win in 10 games this season. The Thunder led by as many as 25 points and by 23 with just 3:30 left in the game. OKC becomes the first team in the NBA this season to take all three games in a back-to-back-to-back set. The Thunder beat Houston both Friday and Saturday nights.

The starters for both teams sat out the fourth quarter as both coaches emptied their benches. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 21 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Durant also pulled down 10 rebounds and handed out seven assists. James Harden added 20 off the bench. Nick Collison had a double-double with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting while grabbing 10 rebounds.

San Antonio, coming off a 121-117 win Saturday night against Denver and playing their fourth game in five nights, couldn't muster much offense against the Thunder. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan combined for only 15 points on 6-for-21 shooting. The Spurs were led by Gary Neal with 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting. As a team though, San Antonio shot just 41.7 percent while allowing the Thunder to shoot 50.7 percent.

QUOTABLE: "I thought we had good energy, the defense was really good, we were getting out in transition on offense, but I thought our guys really brought it tonight on defense."
--Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks

THE STAT: In the third quarter OKC outscored San Antonio 37-21. The Thunder shot 70.6% (12-for-17) and held the Spurs to 38.9% (7-for-18). The Thunder also out-rebounded the Spurs in the third quarter 13-4, out-scored them 13-0 on the break and 12-4 in the paint.

TURNING POINT: Oklahoma City's defense led to big offensive numbers in the third quarter and turned a close game into a rout. After a Parker steal and a Richard Jefferson 3-pointer at the start of the third pulled to the Spurs to within 54-51 Oklahoma City went on an 11-3 run. The Spurs shot just 38.9 percent in the quarter and Oklahoma City fired away at a 71 percent clip. As the quarter ended that 54-51 Thunder lead had ballooned out to 24 points (91-67), and it was cruise control after that.

QUOTABLE II: "They played very well and they kicked our butts in the third quarter. They did a great job."
--Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich

QUOTABLE III: "We weren't concerned with the three games (in three nights) we were concerned about each game on each night."
-- Brooks

HOT: The Spurs hit five of their first eight shots (62.5 percent). ...Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha was 3-for-3 including 2-for-2 on 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes. ...Oklahoma City's Nick Collison (5-for-6) and James Harden (4-for-5) were a combined 9-for-11 (24 points) in the first 15 minutes of the game. ... The Thunder hit four of their first five shots in the third quarter...Oklahoma City was shooting 56.1% through three quarters. ...OKC shot 70.6 percent in the third quarter...Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, Harden and Reggie Jackson combined to go 8-for-8 in the third...

NOT: After the Spurs hit five of their first eight shots they missed 11 of their next 14 and finished the quarter at 36.4 percent ...OKC's Russell Westbrook was 1-for-5 in the first quarter and 0-for-2 in the second...San Antonio's was 1-for-6 in the first half and finished 1-for-8 (4 points).

QUOTABLE IV: "You just have to think about the next one. There are so many games and you cannot worry about one loss too long. It happens. We just have to focus on the next game."
--Spurs guard Parker

INSIDE THE ARENA: Another sellout crowd (18,203) inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma City has sold out 41 of its last 47 games and 20 straight regular season games.

GOOD MOVE: Late in the first quarter, Harden took a skip step then went around both Danny Green at the free throw line and then Tiago Splitter in the lane to get the layup.

BAD MOVE: Spurs guard Green lost his dribble in the second quarter and stepped away from the ball, Harden picked it up and raced down court for an uncontested slam.

NOTABLE: Thunder coaches and management have been knocking on wood the last couple of years because Oklahoma City has not had a player suffer a serious injury. That changed Saturday night in Houston when back-up point guard Eric Maynor tore the ACL in his right knee. Maynor will undergo surgery soon and will be lost for the rest of the season. ...Oklahoma City's Ibaka blocked three shots. He now has blocked at least one shot in his last 23 regular season games. ...Kendrick Perkins also had a block, Perkins and Ibaka have blocked at least one shot in all ten Thunder games. OKC is the only team in the NBA with such a combo.

UP NEXT: For the Spurs, Tuesday @ Milwaukee, Wednesday vs Rockets, Friday vs Trail Blazers. For the Thunder, Tuesday @ Memphis, Wednesday @ New Orleans, Saturday vs Knicks.

• Spurs: Ginobili, Joseph
• Thunder: Maynor, Reid

• Spurs: Blair
• Thunder: Perkins

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #28 Tommy Nunez Jr., #59 Gary Zielinski
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:07