Thunder at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs finally lost a home game and look to make sure it
doesn't happen again when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on
Tuesday. San Antonio won its first 39 home games until falling 92-86 to
the Golden State Warriors on Sunday and enters the contest with a
season-worst three-game overall losing streak.
The Spurs have wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and weren't overly concerned about their homecourt winning streak reaching an end. "We hadn't lost one game at home the whole season," backup guard Manu Ginobili told reporters. "It can happen that you lose one against a team that is one of the best teams ever. We can't start banging our heads against the wall and say, 'Oh, we are terrible.' It can happen." All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook had 13 points, 14 assists and 10 records in Monday's 112-79 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers for his 18th triple-double of the season. The output matches former Lakers star Magic Johnson (1981-82) for third most triple-doubles in a season, trailing streaks of 31 and 24 compiled by legendary center Wilt Chamberlain in the 1960s.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, TNT, FSN Oklahoma
ABOUT THE THUNDER (55-26): All-Star forward Kevin Durant scored 34 points against the Lakers and has scored 20 or more points in 64 consecutive games, the longest streak since former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan had 69 straight such outings during the 1990-91 campaign. Durant was 11-of-18 from the field against Los Angeles and knocked down six 3-pointers. "With Kevin, he's an extremely efficient offensive player," Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said afterward. "There's a lot more to Kevin than just his ability to score. I think his willingness to pass, to hit the open man, to do different things in terms of playmaking — it has probably opened up his offense for him more. He's extremely gifted offensively."
ABOUT THE SPURS (65-15): San Antonio point guard Tony Parker is struggling as the regular season nears an end and had just four points on 2-of-7 scoring against Golden State. Parker is averaging only 7.2 points on 33.3 percent shooting during his last five games and hasn't reached 20 points in a contest since March 10. Streaky shooting guard Danny Green is in another funk after missing all six of his 3-point attempts against the Warriors and he is averaging just four points on 6-of-25 shooting in April.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Thunder are 2-1 against the Spurs this season after San Antonio won four of the previous five.
2. Spurs backup F/C Boris Diaw (groin) could be held out for the fifth consecutive game.
3. Oklahoma City has won all 18 games in which Westbrook has notched a triple-double this season.