SAN ANTONIO —
Recap
First half
San Antonio put the clamps on a rebuilding Thunder team in the early going, holding OKC to 14 points in the first quarter and doubling them up with 28. The Thunder clawed back in the second quarter behind a hot-streak from Mike Muscala, but the Spurs carried a 55-45 lead into the break.
Lonnie Walker IV hit three triples in the first half, and Doug McDermott added a pair as they shot 5-15 as a team. The Thunder managed just 6-24, with each miss ringing through the arena.
Keldon Johnson led the Spurs with 12 points, while Drew Eubanks added 10 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks filling in for Jakob Poeltl.
The starting backcourt of Derrick White and Dejounte Murray struggled to score, combining for 2-15 shooting and four points. Still, they impacted the game with playmaking and defense. The pair had 12 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks in the early going. Murray led the team with 8 assists, and San Antonio had 20 of those in the half.
Second half
The Spurs fell apart in the third quarter, as they were outscored 34-14 by OKC. San Antonio shot 0-9 in the period, while the Thunder hit 6-8.
Keita Bates-Diop took a hard fall on his tailbone or lower back and left the game.
San Antonio went almost four minutes toward the end of the period without scoring a point.
In the first three minutes of the final quarter, San Antonio was able to cut their 10-point deficit all the way down to 1. Keldon Johnson got a pair of free throws to give the Spurs the lead with 7 minutes to play.
OKC responded with a quick 10-2 run to force a timeout by Pop down 7 with just over four minutes to play. The Thunder quickly pushed it to 9, but Thad Young got a bucket, twisted his ankle, missed the free throw, but scored again after the rebound went San Antonio's way.
The Spurs got a stop and Lonnie got to the line to make it 95-92 Thunder with 1:09 left. OKC got a layup, then Keldon got back to the line for the Spurs, hitting both.
The Spurs were down 97-94 with 22 seconds left and the ball, looking for three. They were looking for Bryn Forbes, but couldn't get him a good look. Lonnie launched a deep three that missed, and that was the ballgame.
The Spurs only hit 1-15 from deep in the second half, finishing a putrid 6-30 in the game.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (3-6) will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder(2-6) tonight as the team will look to start a winning streak.
In the Spurs' previous game, Dejounte Murray had 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Spurs beat the Magic, 102-89. Keldon Johnson added 20 points and nine rebounds while Derrick White and Devin Vassell each scored 12 points.
Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. Watch out for the OKC rookie, Spurs! Thunder rookie Josh Giddey has recorded 49 assists and is averaging 6.1 assists over eight games this season.
2. Shai is a problem! OKC's Gilgeous-Alexander owns the fourth-most third-quarter points in the NBA this season with 71 points.
3. The Spurs have four-games straight of recording fewer offensive rebounds than their opponent.
4. Heave them, San Antonio! The Spurs have made fewer three-point shots than their opponent in five-straight games.
5. The Spurs are 2-0 on the road this season when leading after the third period.
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Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5