The San Antonio Spurs can take full control of this series by stealing another road game and going up 3-1.
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In Game 2 with the Spurs struggling, they chose to run their offense through Aldridge in the post.
San Antonio is scoring more points per transition possession in the playoffs than another other team.
The Thunder won Game 2 in San Antonio to steal homecourt but immediately lost it with the Game 3 loss in a close game, 100-96 for the Spurs. Westbrook stomped to midcourt, biceps curled, hitting his chest and yelling, before San Antonio called a timeout. Durant, who had yet to top 30 points against the stingy Spurs defense, finally found his groove.
It helped, of course, that Durant was red-hot. David West responded with a running shot off the backboard that put the Spurs ahead by 7.
On Friday night, Kevin Durant came around a screen near the right elbow and as Russell Westbrook began to make a pass to him at his sweet spot 15-feet away from the basket. Aldridge did the same when he went to the free-throw line. He scored the most points by a Spurs player with 22, shooting 10-16.
The Thunder shot just 41.5 percent from the field. The Spurs are getting shaky play from their supporting cast as well.
Even at just 27 years old, Durant has library’s worth of classic performances. The San Antonio Spurs must look at other options to play backup point guard, because they don’t know how much longer Tony Parker can be the starter at an effective level.
Oklahoma City contested just 28 of 69 catch-and-shoot situations during the first three games of the series. He took mostly good shots in the first half when he wasn’t hitting and then took some tougher ones once he was rolling in the second half.
Durant scored 29 points on 10-for-13 shooting in the second half. Aldridge is averaging 34.3 points and shooting 63.1 percent in the series.
We will have two more games!
During the first minute of the fourth period, San Antonio had a six-point advantage. Several Thunder players pointed at him, but no one picked him up.
Leonard tried to answer, but he missed back to back 3-pointers.
Waiters followed with another 3-pointer for OKC. He scored 17 points with 6-6 from the field. A lot of writers have not focused on the Thunder vs. Spurs this series; they’ve focused on Kevin Durant free agency.
Game four will tip-off at 7 PM on Sunday. The Thunder had led for only three minutes and 11 seconds.
The approach is working, as the Spurs to this point have rolled through the playoffs as they did during the regular season.
Westbrook did finish with a team-high 31 points, but missed 21 of his 31 shot attempts. And no one would argue he should start to ignore one of the game’s most efficient shots.
Wade said he’d adjust his pregame ritual for Game 4 of the series tonight.
The Cavs have now set a record for 3-pointers through 10 playoff games. The man who made his mother (Wanda Durant) the “Real MVP” back in 2014 celebrated Mother’s Day 2016 in front of her by playing like a true MVP.
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Leonard has been known for his defense in the past, but he has taken his offensive game to another level. Game 4 is Sunday in Atlanta.
