Oklahoma City Thunder Loses Heartbreaker to Spurs

Originally Published: Jan 13, 2010 10:15 PM CDT

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Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – Russell Westbrook hit a shot in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime but failed to repeat the effort in the extra period, and the Oklahoma City Thunder suffered a 109-108 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

With three seconds remaining in regulation, Westbrook hit a jumper to cap a 10-2 run for Oklahoma City (21-18) and tie the game at 99. He then attempted an almost identical shot as the buzzer sounded in overtime that rimmed out and sealed the Thunder’s one-point loss.

Moments earlier, Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson combined to give the Spurs (25-13) the lead. Ginobili could not connect on a pass, but dove headfirst out of bounds to prevent a turnover. Jefferson then got the ball and hit a pull-up jumper as the 24-second clock expired to secure the lead.

The Spurs seemed primed to run away with the game in the first quarter, dominating the boards and building a lead of as many as 19 points. They finished the quarter up 35-18, but the Thunder slowly began to chip away at that lead and went into halftime down 63-51.

OKC then took over in the third quarter and outscored the Spurs 26-13 to earn its first lead of the game and go into the fourth quarter up 77-76. The Spurs began the final period on a 6-0 run, but the Thunder recovered to set up Westbrook’s clutch shot to force overtime.

Kevin Durant led all scorers with 35 points and scored 25 after halftime, including six of the Thunder’s nine points in overtime. Westbrook added 25 points and 13 assists while committing just three turnovers.

Tony Parker scored 28 points, but rookie DeJuan Blair was the player of the night for the Spurs. Blair controlled the glass on both sides of the court, finishing with 28 points and 21 rebounds – 10 on the offensive end. He became the first San Antonio rookie since Tim Duncan – who did not play Wednesday due to injury – to have 20 points and 20 rebounds in the same game.

Wednesday’s contest marked only the second time this season the Thunder lost a game in which it scored more than 100 points. Coming into the night, neither the Thunder nor Spurs had won a game in overtime this season. The Thunder is now 0-3 in extended action.

Oklahoma City has now lost just three of its last 11 games and maintains a position in the top eight of the West. The Thunder will try to recover when it travels to Dallas to take on the Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. Friday.