SAN ANTONIO– From the opening tip, the Thunder and San Antonio Spurs were on completely different wavelengths on Saturday night. The Spurs swung the ball crisply, knocked down shots whether they were open or not and locked down defensively to force the Thunder into misses. Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club couldn’t get anything going on offense, which meant it couldn’t set the defense and after less than a dozen minutes of that unfortunate combination, the rout was on.Game 1 of the Thunder’s Round 2 matchup against the Spurs went completely opposite of the Thunder’s game plan, as they fell 124-92, left only with the realization that this one counts for just one loss in this best-of-seven series.
“Give San Antonio all the credit in the world. I thought they played very well,” Donovan said. “We need to play much better all the way around, collectively, than we did today."
The shooting prowess of Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge was the fuel to the Spurs’ fire in Game 1, and it started right out of the gates when the Spurs scored 43 first quarter points on 18-for-22 (81.8 percent) shooting. It was 6-4 Spurs after the first two minutes, but the Spurs ripped off a 24-6 run to build a 30-10 lead with 3:42 to go in the quarter on a Leonard fast break dunk.
“We started slow tonight. When you start slow against the best teams, that’s what happens,” Serge Ibaka said. “All we can do right now is learn from tonight and try to get better next game.”
Aldridge (15) and Leonard (12) combined to score 27 in the first quarter, and eventually an incredible 64 points combined on 28-for-36 shooting from the field on the night. The Thunder’s defense certainly wasn’t up to par, but give credit where it’s due – the Spurs hit shots from all over the floor, unlocking every part of their offense. Aldridge in particular was an absolute handful, pouring in 38 points on 18-for-23 shooting.
“We have to start better on him and try to be more aggressive as bigs,” Ibaka said of Aldridge. “We started a little softer as bigs. I’m going to take that responsibility tonight and try to do better next game.”
The Thunder’s goal on defense all season was to limit opponents’ shot attempts at the rim and at the three-point line. You wouldn’t know it from looking at the stat sheet, but for most of the night, the Thunder actually managed to execute on that. Through three quarters, when both teams’ regulars were still in the game, the Spurs had just 30 points in the paint on 22 attempts and just 12 three-point attempts.
The problem was that the Spurs hit just about everything in between the three-point line and the rim. In the first half, the Spurs shot 14-for-21 (66.7 percent) on non-paint two-point jumpers with just 18 points in the paint and a 6-for-8 mark from three. Through 36 minutes of play, the Spurs shot 20-for-29 (69.0 percent) on non-paint two-point jumpers. During the regular season, the Spurs made 42.5 percent of their mid-range shots.
“They got it going offensively and Aldridge was really a challenge tonight with how he shot the basketball,” Donovan said. “They kind of have every area of the floor covered offensively. They’re a terrific non-paint two shooting team. Aldridge certainly proved that tonight.”
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