San Antonio had LaMarcus Aldridge, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard each score 20 points or more, but crucially Leonard was held scoreless in the last quarter. There’s 10 guys on the court. “It’s a little goal of mine, so we’ll see, if it can happen and if I stay healthy, obviously”. Durant finished with 26 points in the game, but one has to wonder why maybe the most talented offensive player in the league keeps letting Westbrook take over games.
Advertisement
But Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World highlighted a more persistent problem: the Thunder’s inability to close out games in the fourth quarter. “Durant got away from us”. “He had a fine game all the way around without any doubt”.
Even when the Thunder had a four-point lead at the midway mark of Friday’s fourth period, it felt like the Spurs were destined to win. Why? That game seems like ages ago. As Parker tried to bang bodies in the post, Westbrook was able to poke the ball away and immediately turn in transition, where he lobbed a attractive arching pass to Durant, who was able to finish off the break with a layup that nearly blew the roof off the Peake. “They go down, we know he’s going to be extra aggressive, so we just make sure that everybody’s paying attention to weak side defense”.
A look at the only game on the National Basketball Association schedule on Tuesday night. If so, that could make it hard for the Thunder to recover, especially with the series shifting back to San Antonio for game 5.
Losing Game 4 and going down 3-1 against the Spurs would have all but ended their season. Popovich said he didn’t care about the public sentiment, only what he and his coaches thought.
The giant New Zealander got his hand on the ball for a clean block, but Leonard overpowered him, continued the motion and threw the two-handed slam down through the rim.
The stagnancy the Spurs showed on Sunday was a common criticism the Thunder have heard over the years, when at times their offense has devolved into Durant and Westbrook taking turns taking shots. Once it’s in the halfcourt, even if Westbrook gets hung up on a screen or OKC center Steven Adams finds himself in a uncomfortable position, the Thunder have found a way to force the Spurs into inefficient shot attempts.
“They just outplayed us”, Aldridge said of the Thunder’s dominant fourth quarter via Yahoo Sports.
If the Thunder want to take two more games off the Spurs, this is probably the formula that gives them the best shot at doing so.
The Spurs continued to excel at forcing the Thunder into turnovers, and were maintaining control of the game despite not hitting a 3-point until the final minute of the 3rd quarter. The past three games, he is shooting 35 of 62 (56.4 percent).
Advertisement
“He’s just missing shots”.
