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The Thunder came out with energy tonight and played hard for the first quarter and took a 26-24 lead, aided by foul trouble for Kawhi Leonard and cold Spurs shooting. The Thunder showed they meant business with several hard fouls, some of them nowhere close to the ball.
But then the second quarter arrived and the Spurs struck. Westbrook kept gambling on defense and leaving Green open at the 3-point line. With no defenders in the same zip code, Green had no problem draining 3 after 3. Manu got in the act with a quick trigger 3 of his own to set up a quick two for one at the end of the quarter. As it turned out, the Spurs didn't score again before the half, but they were still ahead 58-44, outscoring the Thunder 34-18 in the quarter. Several Thunder players had foul trouble in the first half, Perkins and Fisher had 3, and Collison, Durant, Adams and Perrry Jones had 2. Westbrook had a terrible shooting first half and seemed to be sulking as he headed to the locker room.
The third quarter started with more of the same and by the end of the third, with the Spurs leading by 29, the fourth turned into extended garbage time. The Spurs bench guys got into the spirit and extended the lead even further and the Spurs won by 35. This team is so easy to root for.