But after the Thunder closed the third on a 5-0 spurt taking a solid nine-point lead to the fourth, it appeared maybe they had withstood it and were establishing a little superiority. Alas, three points over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter eventually doomed the Thunder, allowing the Spurs to a 39-point fourth quarter and a 12-point swing over the last 12 minutes.
A lot of things happened that accounted for the meltdown. It looked painfully like last season’s Western Conference Finals, except for the fact it happened six minutes earlier in the game. Kevin Durant couldn’t get the ball in workable situations. Russell Westbrook was limited. And James Harden wasn’t a factor running the pick-and-roll. The game slipped away, one Tiago Splitter and Gary Neal bucket at a time.
It’s the way the Spurs kill you. Slowly and methodically. Which leaves you looking back at the game feeling like you missed a big opportunity.
“It’s tough,” Durant said. “We had this game going into the fourth. It’s tough but we can’t hang our heads, man. It’s a long series. We have to keep playing, try to get Game 2.”
Some will be made about the fact KD only took two shots in the fourth quarter (and missed both), but look at that outside of the box score. He attempted six free throws, those coming as a result of attacking the basket. Yes, of course more is expected of KD. Simply put, 0-2 from the floor in money time isn’t good enough for him. The standard is high, and for good reason. But the Thunder didn’t know where to look for points when the game slowed to a grind. And where they came up with those big baskets and points against the Mavericks and Lakers, the Spurs weren’t having any of it.
“We stopped moving the ball,” said James Harden. “I think in that third quarter we did a great job of moving the ball and getting their defense to move a little bit by hitting wide open shots and wide open layups. In the fourth we kind of slowed that down and they got a couple of easy transition buckets.”
Said Scott Brooks: “We were moving the ball very well throughout that game. And in the fourth quarter I thought they got a little stagnant.”
The offensive meltdown was much of what doomed the Thunder, but don’t overlook that OKC allowed 39 points in the fourth. The Spurs hit shots, got to the line, made plays and hit more shots. You know, things that the Spurs do.
“I thought in the fourth quarter we gave too many opportunities into the paint,” said Brooks. “They got 50 paint points throughout the game. But I thought defensively in the fourth quarter, we take a lot of pride in our defense in the fourth and we gave up 39 points.
“Over 30 points in the fourth quarter is not good enough to win.”
Those six minutes were excruciating, but not something that can’t be corrected. If the Thunder leave San Antonio down 0-2 though, those six minutes could haunt them. They proved something in Game 1: They’re good enough to beat the Spurs. They can hang right there with these big bad boys and give them a game. There is a certain mysticism around the Spurs right now because of this 19-game winning streak and the fact they haven’t lost for 46 six. And while the Thunder didn’t eliminate that, they’ve at least put a small dent in it.
The Thunder can play better. Unfortunately though, so can the Spurs. San Antonio turned the ball over 17 times, went only 8-24 from 3, got a weak performance from Tony Parker and outside of Manu Ginobili, nobody was that excellent. Was that a credit to the Thunder, or the fact the Spurs were a tad off? Funny how that works.
The mission is to take a split back to OKC. It’s still within reach (obviously), but nabbing that first one would’ve been large. Especially since the Thunder had it in their fingertips.
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