Thunder-Spurs Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Feb 04 2012 1:05AM

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder last season in their first game back from their annual rodeo trip.

Another victory over the Thunder could give the Southwest Division-leading Spurs plenty of momentum heading into this season's lengthy stretch away from home.

San Antonio goes for a season-high fourth consecutive victory Saturday night when it faces the league-best Thunder, who begin a five-game road trip.

Playing their first home game in 25 days following a 6-3 trip and the All-Star break, the Spurs won 109-105 on Feb. 25 for their sixth consecutive victory over the Thunder.

Led by 21 points and 10 rebounds from Kevin Durant and 20 points off the bench from James Harden, Oklahoma City (18-4) ended that skid to San Antonio on Jan. 8 with a 108-96 home win far less competitive than the final score indicated.

While the Spurs have a chance to even the season series and add to their league-best 12-1 home mark, they're already looking forward to improving their 3-8 road record when their nine-game trek starts Monday versus Memphis.

"We got to find a way to win on the road. That's the bottom line," Tim Duncan said after scoring 19 points with nine rebounds in Thursday's 93-81 victory over New Orleans. "We're going to have enough opportunities coming up soon."

The Spurs, though, better concern themselves with the Thunder, who have won nine of 12 outside Oklahoma City. It's the franchise's best start away from home since the Seattle SuperSonics opened 12-3 seven years ago.

Oklahoma City (18-4), winner of 13 of 15 overall, has a great chance of ending a three-game losing streak in San Antonio if Durant can carry over his late-game performance from Friday's 101-94 victory over Memphis.

Durant, named an All-Star starter on Thursday, scored seven of his 36 points in the final 53.8 seconds to help the Thunder rally from eight down after three quarters.

"That whole fourth quarter was the way we play basketball," said Harden, who scored 10 of his 24 points in the opening 3:49 of the final period.

While making Durant work for his points is going to be a priority for Duncan, Richard Jefferson and the rest of the Spurs frontcourt, Tony Parker could have his hands full with Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, who is averaging 28.3 points, 6.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds over the last four games.

Westbrook had 13 points and five assists in 25 minutes last month versus San Antonio. He rested the fourth quarter with the other Thunder starters as they became the first team this season to win three games in as many nights.

Parker finished with four points and seven assists last month in Oklahoma City after leaving midway through the third quarter for an undisclosed reason.

Parker is seven assists shy of passing Avery Johnson's franchise record of 4,475.

San Antonio last won four in a row from April 3-9.

Parker's 42 powers Spurs past NBA-best Thunder

By PAUL J. WEBER
Posted Feb 05 2012 1:17AM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Tony Parker wasn't playing for an All-Star invitation. He made a strong case just the same.

Putting together his most dazzling game in three years - and doing it against the NBA's hottest team, no less - Parker scored 42 points and became the all-time franchise assists leader for the San Antonio Spurs in a 107-96 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.

His nine assists moved him past Avery Johnson in Spurs history, but this night wasn't about his passing. Parker joined Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Anthony Morrow and LeBron James as the only NBA players to eclipse 40 points in a game this season.

Bryant, Howard and James were chosen All-Star starters this week. Reserves are announced Thursday.

If Parker's name wasn't in the mix before, it almost certainly is now.

"I would like to go again eventually," said Parker, a three-time All-Star who hasn't been since 2009. "We'll see what happens."

All-Star Kevin Durant had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma City (18-5), which was headed for its first blowout loss of the season before closing a 24-point deficit in the fourth. The convincing win over the NBA's winningest team was just the springboard San Antonio needed before spending next three weeks on the road - where the Spurs have hardly been as dominant.

The Thunder has jumped ahead of the rest of the NBA, in part, by being the best road team. But this time they ran straight into the NBA's best home team, which was never clearer than in the third quarter when the Spurs tripled an 8-point lead in a span of 8 1/2 minutes.

Parker's most electrifying game since scoring 43 in a playoff win over Dallas in 2009 saw to that.

"Coming off pick and rolls, (Parker) was getting to the rim," Durant said. "He is so quick and he was beating our bigs to the lane sometimes. It's tough for our bigs to guard someone as fast as Tony."

Parker, who's spent all his 11 years in the NBA in San Antonio, now has 4,477 career assists. He scored 16 points in the third, going 6 for 9 from the floor and sinking all four of his foul shots. In a game worthy of a standing ovation, his came before it was even over - with 2:28 left in the third, when he surpassed the franchise assists record that Johnson had held since 2001.

The record dish fittingly came on a pick-and-roll with Tim Duncan, his longtime co-pilot in San Antonio's last three championships. And up against the NBA's top team, the duo looked as though they didn't even miss Manu Ginobili, who's missed the last month with a broken hand.

Parker was 16 of 29 from the floor, made 10 of 12 free throws and upped his scoring average to 18 points.

"(Parker) knew he had to have a big game tonight, and we knew we had to score points against these guys," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

Duncan had 13 points and 15 rebounds. Rookie Kawhi Leonard, getting his starting job back so he could guard Durant, added 15 points and hit all three of his 3-pointers. San Antonio's four-game winning streak is its longest all season.

James Harden had 19 points off the bench for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook had 18 points and six assists.

"Tony Parker had his way with us," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "That's as aggressive as I've seen him in a long time."

At times, it was an intense start to the Thunder's five-game road trip. A scramble for a loose ball between Parker and Westbrook in the second quarter escalated into a quick scrape of swats and kicks, with Parker getting whistled for a personal foul and Westbrook shoving aside the Frenchman's leg so he could get up.

Parker, visibly annoyed, was pulled off the pile by Blair, and the players on the Thunder's bench sprung to their feet. Parker responded by darting full steam on a fast break and drawing a foul at the rim. One possession later, Parker hit a tough 17-footer falling away, adding to an entire game's worth of highlights.

The Spurs improved to 13-1 at home, best in the NBA. But they'll now play their next nine away from the AT&T Center as part of their annual Rodeo Road Trip. San Antonio is 3-8 on the road.

NOTES: Thunder G Thebo Sefolosha missed his fourth consecutive game with a sore right foot. ... Following Thursday's win over New Orleans, Popovich ridiculed a reporter who suggested that 7-footer Tiago Splitter attempted anything but layups, saying his last jumper was probably in Spain in 2003. Two nights later? Splitter badly missed a 13-foot fadeaway with the shot clock running down.

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.

• Thunder: Maynor, Reid
• Spurs: Ford, Ginobili, Thomas

• Thunder: --
• Spurs: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #40 Leon Wood, #44 Eli Roe
• Attendance: 18581
• Duration: 2:16