San Antonio Spurs make late inroads to lead 24-22 against Oklahoma City Thunder after the first quarter
Entering Thursday night, San Antonio Spurs were looking to extend their winning streak to 21 games and go up 3-0 in the series against Oklahoma City Thunder, taking them on at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. After a slow start, the
Spurs got going with a 12-4 run on their way to a 24-22 lead after the first quarter.
Thunder started the game pretty well by racing to an 8-0 lead and would not have wanted to be trailing after the opening 12 minutes. Two players for the Thunder did not take a single minute rest in the ball game in Kevin Durant
and Thabo Sefolosha.
Durant was the leading scorer for the Thunder with 8 points on a 3-of-8 shooting performance. Meanwhile Sefolosha who was mainly inserted in the game for defensive purposes failed to open his scoring account. He was however able
to steal the ball on 4 occasions in the opening period.
Russell Westbrook registered 6 points to go along with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Kendrick Perkins went scoreless but had 2 blocked shots in the contest. Serge Ibaka had 2 points while James Harden, Nick Collison and Derek Fisher
have come off the bench to chip in 2 points each as well.
For the Spurs, Tim Duncan was leading the way with 7 points on a 3 of 8 shooting and also had 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Tony Parker continued his excellent form in this game as well and posted 7 points while also being responsible
for dishing out 3 assists.
Stephen Jackson led the bench scoring with 5 points while Garry Neal and Manu Ginobili also chipped in with 2 point each.
The Spurs continued their impressive all around shooting which has been the main cause for their success so far in the playoffs. In the first quarter, they managed to knock down 8 of 18 field goal attempts and were 6 of 7 from
the free throw line.
Oklahoma City made it to the free throw line once in the opening quarter with Durant knocking down both. They were also 10-of-23 from the field but missed on both their attempts from beyond the arc in the opening quarter.
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