It's hard to stay together: Spurs vs Thunder Game 2 recap

Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker became the winningest teammate trio in NBA playoff history last night, with the San Antonio Spurs' 112 to 77 defeat of the Oklahoma City Thunder.  San Antonio's "Big Three" surpassed the 110 total playoff victories shared between Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Cooper  from 1980 to 1988.  Parker led the group with 22 points and 5 assists, Duncan followed with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Ginobili contributed with 11 points and 4 assists coming off the bench.

Much of the scoring that led to the win came from a different, but equally impressive component in the Spurs offense: guard Danny Green, who shot 7-10 from the three point line, and eventually put up 21 points.  Green was quick to attribute much of the credit for his impressive performance to his teammates and the longtime center of the Spurs triad, Tim Duncan.  "When I'm running down the court," Green says, "I'll hear Tim yell 'Light it!' or something similar...and that gives me a little more confidence to take the shot, because I already know he's behind me."

Green hit one three in the first quarter pulling up out of a fast break.  It would set the dominant tone the Spurs would have all night, and was followed, in the second quarter, by two more.

Crucial to the continuous pressure San Antonio put upon the Oklahoma city was their defense of the Thunder's Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, who were held to a meager combined total of 30 points.  Westbrook was 7-24 shooting for 15 points, while Durant went 6-16, and 0-4 from the 3 point line.

Their struggles, however, may have come less from their inability to do the work of scoring themselves, than the complete lack of scoring by anyone else on the team.  This was no more evident than in the second and third quarters, in which Durant and Westbrook scored every single one the team's baskets from 8:04 in the second, to 4:29 in the third: that is, for over 12 straight minutes.  This ensured Oklahoma City would fail to mount anything similar to the comeback they had in the last game in this period of time.

The only other figure to score in double figures for the Thunder was Jeremy Lamb, who (except for a minute-long contribution in the first quarter) was brought in along with many of the other Thunder bench players for most of the fourth quarter to finish out the game.  He scored 13 points, going 6-8 from the field, and came up with two steals.

The Thunder will now travel back to Oklahoma City for Games 3 and 4 of the series, though going down 0-2 makes their situation much more dire.  At the same time, they face a Spurs team that is looking like one of the most cooperative teams in NBA history.  Looking ahead to Game 3, Durant pointed out the very different situation his own team now faced, which would seem to require something of their opponent's unbreakable integrity.  "With a big loss, like that, and two games in a row, it's hard to stay positive.  It's hard to stay together," Durant said.