SAN ANTONIO —
Game Story
First Quarter
Josh Richardson started in place of the injured Doug McDermott, and start he did. The savvy vet caught at the arc, snaked through the lane, and finished through contact. On the next trip down, he let it fly with a hand in his face and drilled a three.
Dejounte Murray passed to Jakob Poeltl in the paint, and the big man faked and scored through a foul, hitting the and-1 free throw as he continues to improve in that area. Poeltl posted up and used a beautiful up-and-under fake before finishing with his left. He picked up his second foul early though, and went to the bench for Zach Collins.
Josh Richardson drove and spun under the basket for another bucket, then stole the ball at mid-court. Keldon Johnson drove and scored, and OKC called time down 14-4.
Richardson found Collins in the paint for a score, then Collins grabbed a rare miss by the Spurs and kicked it to Keldon for a three. Murray drove and hit a jumper before picking up a foul and leaving the game with the Spurs up 21-11.
SGA hit a shot, then the Thunder got a pair of and-1s in a row to make it a one-possession game. Rookie Josh Primo drilled a tough shot from deep and made it a four-point play.
Walker got a couple of good shots that hit the rim twice before rattling out. Collins recovered a loose ball and got it back to Primo, who drove and kicked to Tre in the corner, who faked and drove into a floater. Keldon drove hard and threw a hook pass to Collins for a hook shot.
Tre Jones tried a three as the defense sagged off, but missed. Aleksej Pokusevski scored 5 points in a row, cutting San Antonio's lead down to two.
Lonnie's cold stretch from the floor continued, but he got to the line and hit the free throws. Dejounte hit a three, then forced a turnover. San Antonio led 37-29 after the first.
Second Quarter
Dejounte took a dribble handoff and swished another three. Lonnie and J-Rich both got to the stripe. OKC got a couple of buckets in a row, and Pop called time with a 43-37 lead.
Poeltl made a putback, but the Thunder responded with a three. Dejounte got to the line, and Poeltl made a stop in the paint. San Antonio missed three triples on the same possession, but they got all the boards and Poeltl hit a hook to finish it.
Jak picked up his third foul, and went back to the bench.
San Antonio whipped the ball around the horn for an open three, and it missed, but Primo soared in for an emphatic two-handed putback slam.
OKC answered with a three and a dunk, then SGA got free throws to tie the game, but missed one that would've given the Thunder their first lead. Zach Collins swished a corner three, then Lonnie drained a couple of threes to put the Spurs up eight.
Keldon hit a three, Collins blocked a shot, and Keldon swished another. San Antonio finished on a 17-5 run after the Thunder tied it, and went into the locker room up 68-56.
Third Quarter
Keldon Johnson hit a three to start the second half, but OKC ripped off an 8-0 run behind SGA and Pop called timeout.
Vassell hit a corner three on a feed from Murray, then Jak got another putback. DJ drove off a Poeltl screen for a pull-up j, but SGA came back with a pair. Murray handed it to Richardson for three.
Murray hit his third triple of the game to put the Spurs up 13 before a Thunder timeout. He poked away a steal, then Keldon swished a corner three for the largest lead of the game at 16 points.
SGA hit a corner three, then DJ hit Lonnie for a driving poster dunk. SGA responded with a pair of buckets, and Pop called timeout up 11.
Collins fouled, then got a tech for cussing about it. Walker caught the ball on the move and knifed his way to the hoop for a crafty bucket. OKC cut it to 5, but then Lonnie drilled a three and DJ finished a putback.
The Thunder closed with a three to make it 98-91.
Fourth Quarter
OKC opened on a 5-1 run, then Jock Landale grabbed an offensive board and popped it in.
Josh Richardson swished a triple, Tre Jones eurostepped in for a basket and then took an offensive foul. The Thunder got a pair of threes and a transition bucket to tie it at 106, then another three for their first lead of the game.
Keldon scored on a cut, then Poeltl on a putback, then Richardson on a putback, and the Spurs went back up by three. OKC hit a three to tie, then Dejounte answered with his fourth make from distance.
SGA hit a middie, then DJ missed one. Keldon drove, crossed over, and scooped it off the window. Poku got three free throws and tied it up with 2:19 to play.
Primo got blocked, and SGA got a free throw for the lead. Dejounte lost control of the ball, then forced a steal. Keldon drove and forced a pass to Poeltl through a tight window for a bucket.
Keldon went for a big dunk in transition, but missed and fell hard. SGA missed a bad shot, then DJ missed, and Poku leaked out in transition for the layup and the lead.
Pop called time down 120-119 with 4.8 to play. The Thunder kept Dejounte Murray from catching the inbound, but it went to Lonnie and he pumped at the arc before drilling San Antonio's 19th three of the game for a 122-120 lead with 1.3 to play.
OKC got a last shot by SGA but missed badly over defense by Josh Primo, and the Spurs just held on to the win.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (26-43) will host the Oklahoma City Thunder (20-48) tonight as the team will look to snap their two-game losing streak.
The Spurs are 2-1 against the Thunder this regular season. Before the game, the team announced that veteran sharpshooter Doug McDermott would likely miss the remainder of the season with an ankle sprain.
"He's been important the whole year, you hate to lose him here down the stretch when we're in the position that we're in," Popovich said before the game against OKC.
Josh Richardson will fill in as the starter.
In their previous game, the Spurs lost to the Timberwolves, 149-139.
Keldon Johnson led the team in scoring with 34 points. Dejounte Murray had 30 points and 12 rebounds while Lonnie Walker IV added 22 points in the home loss.
Minnesota's Karl Anthony-Towns finished with 60 points and 17 rebounds.
"It's about stops. We know we can score the ball. We're in the NBA but we got to string together stops. That's how you win tough games with an offensive team [Minnesota] like that. Obviously, we couldn't get stops. That was the downfall," said Johnson.
Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. The Spurs have won two straight against the Thunder.
2. The Spurs have made fewer threes than their opponent in four straight games.
3. Spurs' Johnson has scored double-figure points in five straight games including scoring 34 points against Minnesota and 33 points against Charlotte in that span.
4. The Thunder have lost six games straight and are 1-15 this season when opponents shoot 50% or better.
5. Thunder rookies have made 254 three-pointers this season, which ranks seventh in NBA history in a single season.
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