We took their best shot....

[phyzik]

BOTH teams came out with intensity. BOTH teams came out slugish to begin with but OKC was able to capitolize from the start. I trully wasnt worried at all.

This was Thunder's best shot. No doubt. Spurs got this series.

[slick'81]

one game at a time

[ffadicted]

Westbrook and Harden shit the turd.... this was hardly OKC's best hit

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

Thunder must go 4-2 or better the rest of the way. That's just the pure, cold hard mathematics, no ifs or buts about it. And it will simply be a very difficult challenge - beating the Spurs 4 times out of the next six meetings.

[TE]

Westbrook and Harden shit the turd.... this was hardly OKC's best hit

This

/thread


It's gonna be a long series

[MannyIsGod]

Not even close to their best shot. Good win but they can play much better.

[spursfan1000]

We did horrible that first half with 13 turnovers or so and we let the thunder get so many offensive rebounds yet we were only trailing by one point , I was very relieved. We beat this thunder team with Parker and Duncan not performing on the level we would haves hoped for so that only gives us more cOnfidence for game 2!

[Mal]

Westbrick will be non-factor this series. More he tries, better for the Spurs

[InK]

This was a monster of a game, im so fucking relieved that we won this one.

[Seventyniner]

Both teams played hard.






That said, each team has room for improvement.

[spursfan1000]

Also spurs shot terribly from the ft line I expect them to shoot much better game 2

[td4mvp21]

Their effort was definitely there but Westbrook/Durant can shoot better without a doubt. Good news is that so can Duncan, Parker, Green, and Leonard.

[timvp]

That wasn't anywhere close to their best shot.

[Brazil]

i trully wasnt worried at all.



liar

[Spursfan092120]

No..wrong..this was not even close to the best hit they'll give us this series..but it wasn't our best hit either. We played a total of 2 quarters of basketball in this game...they played 3, imo. Danny Green will not shoot this bad again this series. Stephen Jackson probably gained a lot of confidence from his defense against Durant and that three near the end of the game. This will be a great series..I stand by my original prediction. Spurs in 6..maybe 5.

[Holt's Cat]

Slow the game down, speed the game up, it don't matterrrrr.

[rascal]

Both teams can play better. This game was close enough that it could have gone either way. It is not going to be an easy quick series.

[ducks]

both teams had not played forever spurs 6 days thunder 5
spurs and thunder will adjust game 2 will be intersting

[BatManu20]

BOTH teams came out with intensity. BOTH teams came out slugish to begin with but OKC was able to capitolize from the start. I trully wasnt worried at all.

This was Thunder's best shot. No doubt. Spurs got this series.

This was not OKC's best shot.. Westbrook didn't play well. No way he scores 11 points/game the rest of the series. Don't get over-confident. The Spurs have a ton they can improve on too. One game at a time.

[Proxy]

This isn't LAC or UTA. OKC is a contender. They'll only get better with adjustments. Their best shot will be their last game.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

No way that was OKC's "best shot". We took a jab and landed a haymaker in response, but this series has a long way to go.

[Holt's Cat]

Layup drill as the game went on. Thunder's key to winning is to force enough TO's and bottle TP up to offset, but Spurs now know what to expect. We'll find out what else Scotty Brooks can pull out of the manual.

[pgardn]

OKC can play better.

But that was a huge shot to their coconuts. They had us. We were really bad, shook the rust off, and brushed them aside. There were some very deflated looks on that OKC team. To triage to check for Nervy B's...


Playing about 70% of the game out of wack and still winning feels nice.

[Holt's Cat]

Best shot for them to take one in SA, that's forrrr surrrre.

[dav4463]

Not afraid to admit I was worried at the end of the 3rd quarter. If you weren't, I think you are a liar!

[Sean Cagney]

That wasn't anywhere close to their best shot.

YES BUT HARDLY our best shot either so..... Both can go better.

[Sean Cagney]

Not afraid to admit I was worried at the end of the 3rd quarter. If you weren't, I think you are a liar!

I was shook to death, saying okay this is our par of the course losing one at home in a game one so we go out and get the next! YES I was on that TIP for a second.

[ginobilized]

That was OKC's first shot.....great game, but, doubtful that was their best shot. Spurs still need game 2. Can't wait.

Both teams can play better, for sure.

I think the Spurs can continue to adjust to the Thunder. Not sure how much the Thunder can adjust game to game. We'll see.

[pgardn]

Both teams can play better. This game was close enough that it could have gone either way. It is not going to be an easy quick series.

Disagree.

We opened their abdominal cavity up in the 4th Jack the Ripper style.

The only thing close was the final score. They broke down.

Quick series, probably not. They can make some changes. Having Ibaka on the bench says layup drill.

[timvp]

YES BUT HARDLY our best shot either so..... Both can go better.

Exactly.

[Mark in Austin]

If Westbrook could ever stop being a knucklehead OKC would be truly scary. More than anything else, his poor decisions cost them the game tonight.

[J.T.]

This was far from their best shot. I think Barkley's comment during the postgame was correct, about this would have been a good game for the Thunder to steal if they could have maintained that lead they took into the 4th. But they didn't. Spurs just played better than them down the stretch, but this was an ugly game for both teams. Mount Ginobili erupting from its slumber and Jax's defense on Durant were the only bright spots honestly.

Spurs missed a lot of easy shit at the basket though.

[Holt's Cat]

Maybe not their best shot, but a very good one nonetheless. Spurs still out-executed them down the stretch. OKC won't get 14 TOs in a half again in this series. If they can't come up with another defensive adjustment this series will be short.

[ducks]

if spurs contain harden from drives and gets charges
thunder do not get easy baskets unless spurs turn it over
spurs get lots of easy shots in 4
spurs therefore won

[ducks]

look at the spurs in the paint score

[Russo21]

In the 24 minutes Tim Duncan (http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/215/tim-duncan), Manu Ginobili (http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/272/manu-ginobili) and Tony Parker (http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/1015/tony-parker) were on the court together, the Spurs outscored the Thunder by 14 points. In the other 24 minutes, they were outscored by 11 points.

[JRHernandez88]

Neither team played well tonight. Ginobili came up HUGE For us tonight. OMG that ball fake on Durant was sick. What a great series this is gonna be. Spurs definitely showed me some balls tonight. When they were down by 9 towards the end of the game was a great test. Especially when nothing was falling. I never lost faith though I new we were comin back.:ihit


Here's to a hard fought tough win.:toast The playoffs have officially begun.

[Splits]

while this wasnt the thunders best shot, they have no chance beating us 4 of 6. shit, spurs havent lost 4 in like 35 games or something ridiculous. 19 in arow bitches. suck on it

[Russo21]

we didnt take their best shot.

to me, we gave them our worst shot and came out on top thanks to giving our best shot in the 4th quarter. If that makes any sense lmao

[therealtruth]

That wasn't anywhere close to their best shot.

We gave them so many points of turnovers. I don't really think they can score against our half court defense.

[Budkin]

Thunder were WAY stronger than I thought they would be... this series is going to be a war.

[Budkin]

We gave them so many points of turnovers. I don't really think they can score against our half court defense.

They had 15 pts off turnovers in the first half. That won't happen again.

[BackHome]

I think this was their one shot I think that because we are such a deep team that the latter rounds favor us. To me we just wear down teams that in the fourth quarter they are so gassed they can't stop us...

.Either way OK has class love their players and so happy that the Flakers and Mav's are home fishing...

[Despot]

OP must not have seen game 1 of Thunder - Lakers

[Holt's Cat]

That was their best defensive shot. Thunder haven't had much adversity in this playoffs - being beaten after building that lead has to cool their swagger a bit.

[Whisky Dog]

Well, the Spurs making that 4th quarter spike in offensive and defensive execution really put to bed the similarities to the 2006 mavs series.

To me they just don't get enough from anyone outside of Durant, Westbrook, and Harden. Those three will have to shoulder so much of the load offensively that it's a tough task to ask of any 3 players in this kind of a series against this versatile and deadly an opponent. If one or two of those guys has an off game it would take a legendary performance by one of the other 2 (most likely Durant) and a subpar game by the Spurs for the thunder to win. A ton of pressure on those guys.

Today the Spurs weren't great at all. Parker was pedestrian for most of the game but Manu, TD and the role players picked the slack up enough to win. Tiago boosted the team by himself early in the 4th, I just don't see Collison or Perkins ever having the ability to do that. To me that kind of thing is the difference.

[therealtruth]

That was their best defensive shot. Thunder haven't had much adversity in this playoffs - being beaten after building that lead has to cool their swagger a bit.

I think they exerted too much energy on defense in the first half. Despite the 14 turnovers the Spurs were only down a point. Then when they made the run in the third they hit a lot of tough shots.

[slayermin]

I thought the Thunder played pretty well the first three quarters. Spurs didn't play that great which made the Thunder look better than they really were.

But I do agree that the Thunder gave everything they had to win this game.

[crc21209]

No way in hell that this was OKC's best shot. Nor San Antonio's. However, I will admit that the Thunder blew a HUGE opportunity to steal a game tonight, and they failed. Tonight just proved that this series is going to be an all out war....

[BlairForceDejuan]

best shot? lulz

have you seen okc crowd? this was nothing

[therealtruth]

No way in hell that this was OKC's best shot. Nor San Antonio's. However, I will admit that the Thunder blew a HUGE opportunity to steal a game tonight, and they failed. Tonight just proved that this series is going to be an all out war....

The final score made it look closer than it was. The Spurs should have won by close to 10. The Thunder hit a couple of late game 3's.

[TDMVPDPOY]

they never had a shot against us anyway

first half we got alot of open looks, but nothing went in

2nd half it only started to drop in

[ShoogarBear]

Nominee for "Most Disagreed-With Thread"

[Durant 35]

:lol No you certainly didn't. Not even close.

Just like we didn't take yours...

[angelbelow]

Ginobili played like the Ginobili we all know and love. But neither team played their best.

[rascal]

They had 15 pts off turnovers in the first half. That won't happen again.

No but they will hit more of their shots than they did. They had some poor shooting performances and that will change. Harden looked like he was starting to heat up right at the end. That could very well carry over into the next game.

[pgardn]

Nominee for "Most Disagreed-With Thread"

How about:

the way OKC lost will test this young team's resilience...

One more quarter of long armed, quick D and they have us. Instead they completely lost steam and got dissected.

[wut]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Spurs can obviously play a lot better, but we're in for a series.....go look at Spurs vs Suns 2007:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/series?series=saspho

We won a similar tight game then got blown out by 20. Now obviously different series (Suns had homecourt), but the similarities are there (a dynamic offensive team with athletic bigs).

As Shaq said after the game, young teams you don't demoralize with one game. You have to beat them into submission for them to admit defeat.

In other words, this series is NOT over, so let's stop partying like it is.

[Marco]

Great chance to steal homecourt, definitely.

[silverblackfan]

I think this was a prime opportunity for OKC to get one, but they ran out of gas. The Spurs did not play well, but did get it together in the fourth quarter.
One game at a time, but this game will bother them. They need to win 4 out of 6 now against a team that looks to be warming back up.
Great game.

[silverblackfan]

I think this was a prime opportunity for OKC to get one, but they ran out of gas. The Spurs did not play well, but did get it together in the fourth quarter.
One game at a time, but this game will bother them. They need to win 4 out of 6 now against a team that looks to be warming back up.
Great game.

[team-work]

A lot of good points arguing against getting too happy so early.

Just wonder what the pessimism would be like if the 4th quarter comeback did not come about.

[thunderfan]

That was not OKCs best shot, not even close. That was not SA's best shot either. SA is the better team. We'll see how game 2 goes.

[Leetonidas]

Both teams played like shit, the Spurs just happened to play like shit at a more opportune time than the Thunder did

[Spursmania]

Both teams can play much better. 14 to's in the half and OKC still couldn't take advantage of our mistakes. This was a game they could have taken.
I still believe Spurs in 5.

Tony and Duncan will Play better as will Green. If the Spurs take game 2, it's ovah for the Thunder. OKC crowd or not, the Spurs will play confidently and take at least 1/2 games over there. Spurs have been there before, I don't think they give a rats ass about the okie crowd.

[GinobiliForTres]

No way was that OKC's best shot. I think it was their best DEFENSIVE shot maybe, but not their best overall.

[therealtruth]

The Spurs have more guys that can bounce back.