THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS showed no mercy against the Oklahoma City Thunder, easing to a 124-92 victory in game one of the NBA Western Conference semi-final.
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When the Spurs extended their lead to 41 points at the 11:47 mark of the fourth quarter on a Patty Mills reverse layup off a Boris Diaw assist, it marked the first time in the Popovich era that San Antonio led a postseason contest by 40 points or more.
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.
San Antonio never trailed and shot a scorching 81.8 percent from the floor in the first quarter with Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard (25 points) leading the way. Durant began to praise Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, without a doubt one of the games best ever.
A 23-point lead after one quarter is obviously huge, but with three periods to go and going against an offense as explosive as the Thunder’s, it wasn’t safe.
Oklahoma City was a step behind defensively throughout Game 1, but Thunder superstar Kevin Durant dismissed the notion it was due to a lack of effort.
Aldridge finished with 38 points in just 30 minutes of play. I don’t play for regular season basketball, which is all fine. Leonard had eight points in the opening barrage, including two dunks, as all five of San Antonio’s starters scored. For those that want to watch Game 2 on Monday, the game can be seen on TV on TNT and watched online via a live stream via the TNT Overtime app. Here’s how to watch online. Serge Ibaka had 19 points. Their combined dominance was supplemented by the Spurs’ signature ball movement, which helped them win the game by over 30 points.
“We didn’t have that sense of urgency tonight coming out of the gate for whatever reason”, Oklahoma City guard Andre Roberson said.
Aldridge was a ideal 15-of-15 from the field when taking a shot off a pass from a teammate, including 6-of-6 on passes from Tony Parker.
Adams said it was “eerie” watching Game 1 of their second-round series prior to Sunday morning’s practice. The Spurs continued to make shots while the now notoriously frustrated Oklahoma City players couldn’t buy a bucket, especially from beyond the arc. “So we’ve got to run out there to contest make them shoot over our hands that’s what they’re doing defensively is making us shoot tough twos over their hands, so we’ve got to do a better job of that”. But then you have your little tantrum and you just get over it.
Durant was not in the mood to discuss his feelings following Saturday’s blowout loss.
Durant, a four-time scoring champion, will go against two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard in the game’s marquee matchup.
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Why not, a reporter asked. “It was just hard for us to get the guards in position for us to do the coverage because they couldn’t hear us. That’s not going to make things better”.
