The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 108-123 on Friday, storming the Frost Bank Center and regaining home-court advantage to put the Western Conference Finals in order with a 2-1 lead.
On Wednesday, after tying the series 1-1 in Oklahoma City, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vowed to go to San Antonio and “win one game” of the two they would play. Mission accomplished.
Thunder breaks losing streak in San Antonio
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In fact, it was the Thunder’s first win of the season in San Antonio, where they had lost their previous two meetings.
Before the game, Spurs doctors gave De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper the green light to play.
Fox had missed the first two games of the series with a sprained ankle and Harper had to leave the second game after a bad fall.
On the other hand, Jalen Williams’ relapse of his hamstring injury seems more serious (Filed as: Thunder crush Spurs).
From 15-0 to collapse
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The Spurs started the duel with an intimidating 15-0 run in less than three minutes.
A perfect start at the Frost Bank Center, which had been waiting nine years for such a moment.
But little by little the Thunder got into the game, especially during Victor Wembanyama’s minutes of rest.
Boosted by their large bench, which outscored the starters 39-19 in the first half.
Four of the substitutes finished the game in double digits.
OKC regained home-court advantage
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By the end of the first quarter, San Antonio’s lead was already down to 31-26.
At the beginning of the second half, the Thunder were already in the lead.
From that 15-0 halftime lead, Oklahoma City’s lead was 36-58, with 51-58 on the scoreboard.
After returning from the locker room, the Spurs found no answer to the Thunder’s strategy.
Which they dominated the entire second half, extending their lead progressively until the final 108-123.
Oklahoma City stifled Wembanyama in the paint and the Spurs lacked gunpowder from the perimeter (Filed under: Thunder crush Spurs).
Shai leads Thunder
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Gilgeous-Alexander was the Thunder’s leading scorer with 26 points and 12 assists.
Although he converted only 6 of 17 shots from the field (35.3 %), he did score 12 points from the free throw line with a 100 % success rate.
Jared McCain, who came to Oklahoma City this winter from Philadelphia in a surprising trade, contributed 24 points off the bench.
Fellow substitutes Jaylin Williams and Alex Caruso added 18 and 15 points, respectively.
For San Antonio, Wembanyama finished with 26 points, but only four rebounds.
Devin Vassell contributed 20 points, De’Aaron Fox 15 and Stephon Castle 14.
The young point guard finished the game with just one turnover, after giving up 20 turnovers in the previous two games.
Spurs and Thunder will meet again for Game 4 of the West finals this coming Sunday, again in San Antonio (Filed under: Thunder crush Spurs).
With information from EFE
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