For Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant went on a scoring spree that was spectacular, even by his standards.
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Tony Parker had 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting, as the Thunder oddly chose to chase him over the top on picks all night.
The Spurs won Game 1 in a completely lopsided battle 124-92, behind big man LaMarcus Aldridge’s 38 points. Tony Parker, who finished with 22 points, had five points after making his only two field-goal attempts in the period, but Leonard (21) went scoreless and was 0 for 5.
The good news for the Spurs is that by virtue of their Game 3 win, they still have the home court advantage and still have an excellent chance of advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the fourth time in five years.
For the Thunder, Russell Westbrook added 14 points, Steven Adams netted 16 and coming off the bench, Dion Waiters scored 17 points.
Kevin Love had a big night with 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, including eight three-pointers in the 100-99 win. In the 100-96 victory, the Spurs shot just over 43% from the floor, but hit nearly 53% of their shots from three point range.
Cut to the start of the second half of Game 4, with the score tied at 48 and Westbrook and Durant both struggling a bit to find their strokes.
Game 4 is Sunday in Atlanta.
What the Thunder defense kept the Spurs from doing was moving the ball, or when they did finishing the shot.
Parker, who scored 19 points in Game 3, was sharp again Sunday night, hitting 10 of 16 shots.
“They just outplayed us”, Aldridge.
Green added 20 points, going 6 for 9 shooting on 3-pointers. I gotta get other guys involved to beat this team.
“Too many shots. I think honestly I gotta do a better job, like I said before, of getting guys good shots”, Westbrook said.
Game 4 will be Sunday in Oklahoma City. “After they do all that, it’s on me to finish the shot and just stick to the fundamentals I’ve been practicing since I was a kid”, Durant said in an NBA.com report. He was shooting the ball very well, making tough shot after tough shot …
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“Try to just mess up where he catches the ball”, Adams said. “They made more plays than us”. The Spurs finally made their first two three-pointers late in the third quarter. After a stretch of games against some weaker opponents, there was a lot of anticipation for the Cubs’ last two series, including three games against the Pirates and four against the Nationals. We didn’t make shots.
