Game 1 of the second-round series was a Texas-sized butt-kicking, and there just is no polite way to put it. But the free agent destination for Thunder forward Kevin Durant this offseason is a constant source of rumors and speculation, and Zach Lowe of ESPN.com has mentioned the Spurs as a possible suitor.
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The Thunder have shown they can compete with the Spurs and they should compete in Game 2 to prove this will be a series. Curry is expected to be out at least the first three games of the series, but that doesn’t mean Golden State is a sinking ship. There’s no difference between dropping Game 1 by one point or by 32.
The Thunder can’t play much worse than they did in Game 1, which was over long before the Silver and Black took a 73-40 halftime lead.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points in the first half alone and finished the night with 38 to lead all players.
With Aldridge scoring 15 points and Leonard 12, the Silver and Black shot 81.8 percent in the opening period, nailing 18 of 22 field-goal attempts, including 3 of 4 three-pointers, in racing to a 43-20 lead after the first 12 minutes. But the trio were 19-of-49 from the floor, the three combining to make one more shot than Aldridge made by himself.
The only scare came when Leonard grabbed the back of his left leg after landing on it awkwardly off a powerful one-handed dunk on the game’s opening possession.
Leonard and Aldridge combined for 45 points in the first half, outscoring Oklahoma City as a team by four. Hopefully we don’t fall for that.
The Thunder returned to the AT&T Center on Sunday morning for a workout and met with the media afterward.
We know OKC has the talent to hang with the Spurs. “We’ve got to do a lot of things better than we did yesterday. And I think he’s created a little bit more for us”. I ended up making some plays that I probably won’t make the next game, but it was enough for me tonight.
Russell Westbrook was initially guarded by Kawhi Leonard on 84 percent of the Thunder’s half-court offense while both were on the court Saturday.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant sits on the bench during the fourth quarter of the team’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series, Saturday, April 30, 2016, in San Antonio. Minutes typically get extended in the playoffs, but with six minutes to go in the first quarter of Game 1, the Thunder was already trailing the Spurs 21-8.
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The Spurs kept pouring it on in the early part of the second quarter with Green, who has struggled with his shot nearly all season, pouring in two 3-pointers and hitting a free throw to expand San Antonio’s advantage to 53-24 at the 9:14 mark. The pick-and-roll coverage looked consistently confused, with San Antonio getting easy buckets and wide-open jumpers almost every time they tried that action.
