San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi Leonard rout a sloppy Thunder team
By Rich Condon
The San Antonio Spurs exacted some small measure of vengeance from last year’s playoffs defeating the OKC Thunder 108-94.
The OKC Thunder had no answer for Kawhi Leonard in this one. Leonard, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, erupted for 36 points, 8 boards, and 4 assists for the Spurs. Lamarcus Aldridge also had a nice night, finishing the evening with 25 points in 28 minutes.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Spurs | 31 | 21 | 27 | 29 | 108 |
| Thunder | 17 | 25 | 33 | 19 | 94 |
Oklahoma City looked lost early, turning the ball over 14 times in the first half alone. They would finish the evening with 20 turnovers. The Thunder were also dreadful shooting the ball, finishing the evening with a horrendous 35.3% (30-85) from the field.
The game as a whole was brutal to watch, as both teams struggled from the field for rather large portions of the game. Even worse was the near constant involvement of the referees-especially in the second half-when it seemed as if they were blowing a whistle on every play.
The two teams combined to finish with 55 fouls called. Just to put that in perspective for you: there were 63 fouls called in the New York Knicks Atlanta Hawks game. In case you missed it, that game went four overtimes.
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The Spurs are still one of three teams in the NBA that Russell Westbrook has yet to get a triple-double against. Westbrook finished with 27 points (7-17 from the floor, 3-7 from deep), 14 (out of OKC’s 21) assists, and 6 rebounds.
Rookie Domantas Sabonis played 35 minutes this evening and finished with a 13 point, 10 rebound double-double. Sabonis was scrappy in the paint all evening and shot nearly 50% from the field. Despite this, he made several rookie mistakes including six turnovers. All-in-all, however, Sabonis is developing nicely.
Steven Adams also had a double-double for the Thunder, finishing with 16 points (7-13 from the field) and 12 rebounds. Victor Oladipo chipped in 15 points for the Thunder as well.
The bench was abysmal, and Enes Kanter is already sorely missed. OKC’s bench combined to shoot 6-28. The bench was also -53 on the evening, “led” by a -27 from Cameron Payne. Payne continues to struggle after returning from a foot injury. Tonight was no different, as he shot 0-4 from the field.
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OKC looked exhausted for most of the evening, and for good reason. They’ve traveled over 16,000 miles lately. Thankfully, the month of January has come to a close. The Thunder went one game under .500 this month, most of which was spent on the road. With the loss, the Thunder drop to 28-21. OKC is a game behind the Grizzlies for the 6 seed in the Western Conference.
The Thunder return home for a match-up with the recently dysfunctional Chicago Bulls tomorrow night.