SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs overcame a sloppy start to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 Sunday at the AT&T Center in the opening game of the Western Conference finals.
It was San Antonio’s ninth consecutive victory in the playoffs and 19th in a row overall. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday in San Antonio.
The Spurs, perhaps rusty from a seven-day layoff after their second-round sweep of the Los Angeles Clippers, played with little of the flair and cohesiveness they’ve displayed during their streak.
Indeed, they nearly matched their playoff high with 14 turnovers in the first half alone en route to 16 overall.
But the Spurs executed when it mattered, overpowering the Thunder down the stretch with withering defense and a stream of timely baskets. Manu Ginobili keyed San Antonio’s breakaway with 11 of his 26 points in the final quarter.
Tony Parker had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Tim Duncan added 16 points and boards for the Spurs.
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 27 points, and he paced the Thunder with 10 rebounds. James Harden added 19 points for Oklahoma City, and Russell Westbrook added 17 points.
Oklahoma City took a quick 5-0 lead before the Spurs scored eight unanswered points. The Thunder responded with an 8-2 run featuring three fastbreak baskets.
One of those field goals resulted from an impressive individual effort from Westbrook, who blocked Parker’s jump shot, corralled the rebound and powered downcourt for a layup.
Westbrook missed his other five shots in the first quarter, however, indicative of Oklahoma City’s ragged start. All-Star teammate Kevin Durant wasn’t much better, missing four of six shots in the period.
Ginobili went on a patented individual run soon after entering the game, scoring San Antonio’s final seven points in the quarter. He drained a 3-pointer while falling out of bounds just before the buzzer sounded, giving the Spurs their largest lead at 24-18.
Ginobili followed with another 3-pointer early in the second quarter, and he fed the streaking Tiago Splitter for a quick-hitting layup that put San Antonio up 31-25.
But despite shaky shooting performances from its superstars, the Thunder continued to threaten. Derek Fisher hit a pair of long jump shots during an 8-3 spurt that brought Oklahoma City within 34-33.
Westbrook and Durant took over from there, combining to score the next 11 points for Oklahoma City.
Durant then passed out of a double team to Fisher for a wide-open corner 3-pointer that pushed the Thunder out to a 47-44 lead. Fisher, best known for his playoff heroics with the Los Angeles Lakers, had nine points in the quarter.
Kawhi Leonard’s dunk just before halftime cut Oklahoma City’s advantage to one.
The Thunder continued to pull away behind 10 third-quarter points from Durant. They took their largest lead of the game, 71-62, on a 10-3 run to close the period. San Antonio made only six of 24 shots during the quarter.
The Spurs rediscovered their scoring touch in the fourth, ripping off an 18-3 run to storm back in front, 82-76. Oklahoma City committed three offensive fouls during the stretch, including Durant’s inadvertent elbow to the nose of Stephen Jackson.
Jackson would later hit a back-breaking 3-pointer as San Antonio led by at least three over the final five minutes. The Spurs scored at least one point on 20 of 25 possessions, and they didn’t commit a turnover in the fourth quarter.
NOTES: The Spurs are 29-6 after winning the first game of a postseason series. … Duncan has 469 career blocked shots in the postseason, third all-time behind Hakeem Olajuwon (472) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (476). … San Antonio has held all nine playoff opponents to less than 100 points.
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