Thunder spurned
A late-game hustle wasn’t enough to beat the Spurs. OKC lost, 101-104.
SAN ANTONIO — Here was the chance for one of those moments.
The Thunder needed one, as it so often has this season, and trailing by three late in a game against the Spurs — a game it once led by 23 points — Carmelo Anthony had a chance to deliver. In the frenzied seconds of a late possession, he stepped into the Thunder’s third shot of a possession and swished from long range.
Just not long enough. His potential game-tying 3-pointer was instead a two. The Thunder trailed by one with 5.6 seconds to play and ultimately lost 104-101 at the AT&T Center.
“It was tough,” said Anthony, who finished with 20 points on 9-for17 shooting. “I was just trying to get a shot up. Wasn’t really looking at where exactly my feet was at.”
It was a tough break for a Thunder team that could use a lucky one late in game against a quality opponent.
But you can make your own breaks in the NBA. The Spurs did it on Friday in part, coach Gregg Popovich said, because of “an attitude change from ‘poor me’ to screw you.’”
An Oklahoma City team that has struggled to play from in front was at its lead-building best early on Friday. It dominated the first quarter and — its lead was 32-15 after 12 minutes — and controlled the start of the second.
With 9:28 to play before halftime, Raymond Felton drove into the paint and
lofted a floater that put Oklahoma City in front 43-20.
But the Thunder has blundered a lead before, and the Spurs — like the Celtics and the Kings and the Nuggets before — found a way to chip away. It locked down defensively. Its shots started to drop.
It had cut the lead to 13 by the 5:31 mark of the second quarter, and the Thunder had answered, 3-pointers by Alex Abrines and Carmelo Anthony stretching the margin back to 19. The next Spurs rally would prove harder to answer.
San Antonio closed the second quarter on a 16-4 run, cutting the Thunder’s lead to 55-48 at the half. The Spurs controlled the third quarter, too, outscoring OKC 30-23 to tie the game at 78-78 entering the fourth quarter.
The Spurs scored the first six points of the fourth, too, taking an 84-78 lead and control of the momentum.
San Antonio’s defense made the game an uphill slog, but the Thunder kept climbing.
Trailing 99-93, Steven Adams stepped to the line and missed two free throws. George rebounded, and Anthony used a shot fake to get Davis Bertrans in the air. He sank a tough jumper and drew a foul. His ensuing free throw was a misfire, but Adams tipped it in, and the Spurs’ lead was 99-97 with 2:52 to play.
Russell Westbrook, who had 15 points on 5-for-22 shooting, called his team’s fight “a positive,” but said there are “no moral victories here,” and the Thun- der couldn’t get over the hump, couldn’t make the big play it’s often struggled to make early this season.
It was the fifth time this season that the Thunder has blown a double-digit lead and lost. But this one felt “different,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said.
“I knew they were gonna make a run,” Donovan said. “But I really didn’t feel like it was because we got up, we got comfortable, we got relaxed. These guys have been around for a long time. They’re on the road. They know it’s gonna be a challenge.”