Agencies
OKLAHOMA CITY, MAY 7
In the latest chapter of a basketball series that has featured a surplus of technical sophistication and individual skill, back-and-forth tactical scheming and prolonged periods of loud noises, the San Antonio Spurs got the better of the Oklahoma City Thunder, surging to a 100-96 victory on Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.
Amid all the high-level play, it was a pair of turnovers in the final two minutes from the Thunder’s two biggest stars, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, which helped sink Oklahoma City. With 1 minute 55 seconds remaining, Westbrook lost control of his dribble near midcourt, allowing Kawhi Leonard to coast to the other end for a dunk that gave the Spurs a 5-point lead.
Then, on the Thunder’s next possession, Durant tried to find Westbrook with a crosscourt pass, and instead he flung it out of bounds. David West responded with a running shot off the backboard that put the Spurs ahead by 7.
“Those definitely hurt us,” Thunder Coach Billy Donovan said of the turnovers. “It gave them some runouts. It allowed them to score.”
The game was essentially secured when Leonard pulled down an offensive rebound with 23.9 seconds remaining, with the Spurs protecting a 2-point lead.
Leonard scored 31 points to go with 11 rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge added 24 points for the Spurs. Westbrook had 31 points for Oklahoma City, but he shot just 10 for 31 from the field. Durant added 26 points.
The teams were meeting after a three-day break. After the Spurs took Game 1 in a blowout, a tense Game 2 ended with a madcap 13.5-second sequence in which the Thunder scrambled to protect a 1-point lead after turning the ball over on an inbounds play.Get the big sports news, highlights and analysis from Times journalists, with distinctive takes on games and some behind-the-scenes surprises, delivered to your inbox every week.
The atmosphere Friday night was intense from the start. Less than a minute after tip-off, Westbrook stole the ball at midcourt and accelerated across the floor for a breakaway dunk. He flexed and roared at the crowd.
Four minutes later, Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich was roaring at point guard Tony Parker, unhappy with the defensive coverage as he stalked onto the court to call a timeout.
The ceaseless artificial noise pumping from the speakers inside the arena — during every possession, every stoppage, in turn triggering crowd noise — added to the mania.
The Spurs had shot atrociously to start Game 2 on Monday night, plunging themselves into an early hole.
“We spotted them 13,” Popovich said of Game 2.
But they were sharp to start the game on Friday — making their first four 3-pointers — and finished the first quarter ahead, 27-20.
The Thunder hit a scoring drought from the first to the second quarters that lasted 7 minutes 24 seconds.
Westbrook was aggressive, but his jump shot was erratic, and he made just 6 of his 17 shot attempts in the first half as the Thunder entered the intermission trailing, 47-42.
The Spurs struggled as a team from the free-throw line. Leonard, who shot 87.4 percent from the line during the regular season and made 21 of his 24 foul shot attempts in the playoffs before this game, went 10 for 14 from the line, missing shots early on. The Spurs shot 24 for 34 from the line over all. But Leonard made the two most important ones — with 2.7 seconds left in the game to give the Spurs a 100-96 lead — and was a force of nature in other aspects.
The building grew deafening when the Thunder cut the lead to 61-60 with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter. But on the Spurs’ next possession, Leonard ducked into a crowded paint, then sprung out of the mass of bodies for a two-handed dunk, quieting the crowd. Spurs were ahead, 72-69, going into the final quarter.
Serge Ibaka drained a 3-pointer from the left corner with 7:55 left in the fourth to give the Thunder a 78-77 advantage, their first lead since the first quarter. After a miss by the Spurs on the other end, Westbrook — who had been shooting 7 for 25 to that point — drained a step-back 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 4. Westbrook stomped to midcourt, biceps curled, hitting his chest and yelling, before San Antonio called a timeout.
But his bravado was deflated as the Thunder fumbled the ball away down the stretch.
