Thunder Snaps Spurs Streak, Snatches Game Three

Oklahoma City broke San Antonio's 20-game winning streak with a dominating 102-82 victory in game three.

Thursday, May 31st 2012, 11:20 pm

By: News 9


What a difference a day can make.

After a tough game two, the Oklahoma City Thunder returned to the home court Thursday night looking like a totally different team in a 102-82 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

The Thunder's dominating win snapped the Spurs 20-game winning streak that tied as the third longest streak in the NBA.

Thabo Sefolosha scored a playoff career-best 19 points in 37 minutes of play with 16 of those points coming in the second half after he played only 15 minutes in game two.

Kevin Durant paced OKC with 26 points and six assists as the Thunder shot 45.5 percent from the field and were 16-of-17 from the free throw line.

Oklahoma City started out red-hot scoring eight unanswered points off San Antonio's four consecutive turnovers to take an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes of play.

San Antonio found its rhythm as Tim Duncan hit back to back jumpers from the top of the key to cut OKC's lead in half. Minutes later his free throws gave the Spurs its first lead at 13-12.

The Thunder's aggressiveness only increased as James Harden entered the game to score 11 and before you knew it Oklahoma City used an 18-3 run to take a 40-30 advantage.

OKC would control the score the rest of the game. By halftime, OKC managed 48.8 percent shooting from the floor while limiting their turnovers to just four, taking a 54-41 advantage at the break.

The Thunder kept up the pace and Sefolosha's scoring and defense was a big difference maker for OKC in picking up the win.

The Spurs were held to 39.5 percent shooting from the floor and were plagued by post season-worst 21 turnovers on the night.

San Antonio's Tony Parker tallied 16 while Stephen Jackson came off the bench with 16 points and two rebounds. Tim Duncan had 11 points on 5-for-15 shooting, taking 11 of San Antonio's first 25 shots as the offense went through the All-Star center instead of Parker.

Sefolosha netted four of Oklahoma City's six 3-pointers in the game, and the team's 14 steals also set a new playoff record.

San Antonio leads the series 2-1 and  game four is set for Saturday in OKC at 7:30p.m.

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