Season 51, Game 76
San Antonio 103, Oklahoma City 99
44-32, 4th in the West
In February, I would have guessed another four to six game losing streak was coming. Hell, I would have guessed that earlier in March too. But the San Antonio Spurs, fresh off two embarrassing road losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards, found a way to take down Oklahoma City at home. And whew, it was nice to see San Antonio prevent their previous two losses from snowballing into something worse, I’ll tell you what.
Led by – who else – LaMarcus Aldridge, the Spurs got just enough from their players to not only win the game, but improve to fourth in the Western Conference. With just six games left, San Antonio sits 2.5 games behind Portland, and only 2.5 games ahead of the L.A. Clippers in 9th place. This is to say that every game really matters at this point in the season, and we should all be extremely thankful Aldridge is along for the ride.
The Spurs’ starting power forward was listed as doubtful for this contest after exiting the Wizards loss with a knee contusion, but Aldridge wasn’t about to sit out a must-win game for his team. He finished the contest with a team-high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds, notching his 25th double-double of the season.
Aldridge scored 19 of his points in the first half and was relatively quiet until the waning moments of the game. But as he’s done time and time again this season, Aldridge came through when it mattered most. With 52 seconds left, and a one point lead, Aldridge put OKC’s Steven Adams in his place with a powerful drive and dunk, pushing the Spurs’ lead to three and keeping them in front for good.
Four other Spurs finished with double-digit points: Patty Mills scored 14, Danny Green chimed in for 11 off the bench (which is still weird and probably wrong but sure I’m not a coach, whatever), while Kyle Anderson and Manu Ginóbili each dropped 10 points. Ginóbili also picked up two steals, giving him the San Antonio record for career steal with 1,389, passing David Robinson’s 1,388. No matter how you slice it, it’s impossible to argue that Manu has had a legendary career with the Spurs.
The Thunder also had five double-digit scorers, but perhaps the key to this game was keeping perennial MVP candidate (man… isn’t it nice to have one of those healthy?) Russell Westbrook in check. Yeah, he scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds, but anytime that man doesn’t get a triple-double, you should probably feel pretty good about your defense. The Spurs forced Westbrook into seven turnovers, while he only doled out five assists. That’s just the third time all season Westbrook committed more turnovers than assists.
Of course, we already knew the Spurs defense was elite. San Antonio leads the league in defensive points allowed with 99.4 per game. The knock on this team has always been their ability to score. Last night, they scored just enough to put away another playoff contender at home, but unless they can do it on the road this April, this outstanding defensive team will be packing their bags sooner than we’d hope.
Next up, the Spurs host division rival Houston Rockets on Sunday at 2:30PM Central Time. The Rockets have locked up home field advantage for the playoffs, but there’s no indication they’ll be resting key players in the next contest so San Antonio is going to have their hands full again.
Go Spurs Go.
