Spurs beat Thunder, move into 4th-place tie in West
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and San Antonio made the plays it needed down the stretch as the Spurs outlasted the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-99 on Thursday at the AT&T Center in a game with huge playoff implications for both teams.
The win granted San Antonio (44-32) a 2-2 split in the season series with Oklahoma City (44-32) and pushed the Spurs into a tie for fourth place with the Thunder in the Western Conference standings with six games to play.
A put-back dunk by Steven Adams capped a late 6-1 run and allowed Oklahoma City to get to within 96-93 with 1:46 remaining. After a free throw from Aldridge, Thunder forward Paul George hit three free throws with 1:07 to play.
Aldridge slipped away from Adams for a dunk with 52.9 remaining to push the Spurs' lead to 99-96. After a missed 3-pointer by OKC point guard Russell Westbrook, Patty Mills was fouled and converted both free throws, giving San Antonio a five-point cushion.
George then canned a 3-pointer with 8.7 seconds left, and after a timeout and a foul, the Spurs' Manu Ginobili made two free throws to assure San Antonio the victory.
The double-double was the 25th of the season for Aldridge. Mills added 14 points for the Spurs while Danny Green hit for 11, Kyle Anderson and Ginobili scored 10 points each, and Pau Gasol took 12 rebounds for San Antonio.
George led the Thunder with 26 points, adding seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. Westbrook added 19 points and 11 rebounds, Corey Brewer hit for 14 points, Adams poured in 10 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Raymond Felton tallied 10 points off the bench for Oklahoma City.
The Spurs led by as many as 10 points in the first half before settling for a 59-56 advantage at halftime. Aldridge led all scorers with 19 points over the first two quarters on 8 of 11 shooting from the floor while Mills added nine points and Gasol took seven rebounds in the first half.
George paced Oklahoma City with 15 points and six assists over the first 24 minutes and Westbrook hit for 11 points and five assists. The Thunder stayed close by forcing 10 San Antonio turnovers that led to 18 Oklahoma City points in the half.
Oklahoma City returns home to host the Nuggets on Friday in the second game of a brutal back-to-back. The Spurs return to the court on Sunday afternoon for fourth and final matchup with league-leading Houston.
--Field Level Media
