The San Antonio Spurs continue to find the fountain of youth in the postseason. The team once again showed what they were capable of in Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. At one point Kevin Durant and company were down by 15 points and showing almost no signs of life. However, the Thunder are ready to come back with vengeance in Game 2 and hope to take advantage of the Spurs with youth.
Oklahoma City did overcome that 15 point deficit by getting off athletic shots and driving up to the net past the San Antonio defense. It was simply not enough for that matchup, but could be in Game 2 if the Thunder are able to repeat the late-game surge. The Spurs played it right in Game 1, sitting Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili in the third quarter. The Thunder gassed themselves working to make a comeback and by the time the fourth quarter came, Oklahoma had nothing left while the Spurs were fresh again.
Durant and Russell Westbrook put in all the work, but failures from their supporting cast made the comeback short lived. The two combined for 19 points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter bringing the Thunder back into contention to win. However, in the final 17 minutes, they put up just nine points while the Spurs and their deep bench took advantage of a soft defensive front without Serge Ibaka.
Durant finished with 28 points while Westbrook had 25. The remaining starters combined for just five points the entire game. That short of production will get Oklahoma swept out of the conference finals. Head coach Scott Brooks tried a smaller lineup that failed as Duncan had 27 points while Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard got to the basket with ease and putting up 66 points in the paint.
The Thunder will have to make adjustments with Ibaka out of the lineup. They failed to make moves to slow the Spurs down in Game 1 and will now be playing catchup before the series shifts home.
Watch Spurs vs. Thunder Game 2, click here.
