The Oklahoma City Thunder took down the San Antonio Spurs 123-108 on Friday, taking a 2-1 series lead.
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It was far from an ideal start for the Thunder and a near-perfect start for the Spurs. San Antonio hit the ground running and went up 15-0 to start the game, but OKC dissolved this lead quickly.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got off to a slow start, but OKC’s bench was locked in early and trimmed the lead to five through one quarter.
As both sides had similar shooting splits, the second quarter turned out to be the most volatile. Foul calls and physical defense became the matchup’s biggest factor as the two squads fought for a lead.
As halftime approached, OKC managed to string together a number of stops with disruptive defense. By halftime, the Thunder had flipped the script and built a seven-point advantage.
Victor Wembanyama scored points ad a solid rate, but struggled immensely to out-rebound OKC’s bigs. The Thunder managed to maintain their advantage in the third quarter.
Entering the final frame, the Spurs faced an 11-point deficit and their cold outside shooting prevented them from making any progress on a comeback attempt.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 26 points and 12 assists while Jared McCain came off the bench for 24 points.
Wembanyama led the way for San Antonio with 26 points, four rebounds and two blocks.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
