San Antonio is halfway to turning the Western Conference finals into a runaway.
Tony Parker scored 34 points, Manu Ginobili added 20 and the Spurs stayed perfect in the playoffs with a 120-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 on Tuesday.
The Spurs set an NBA record with their 20th consecutive victory bridging the regular season and the playoffs. They came in sharing the longest such streak with the 2000-01 Lakers, who won 19 straight before losing to Philadelphia in the first game of the finals.
Those Lakers went on to win the championship and there's no reason yet to think the Spurs won't do the same. They put on an offensive clinic for three quarters, shooting 60 percent from the field and leading by as many as 22 points in the third quarter.
Parker finished with eight of the Spurs' 27 assists, and San Antonio went 11 for 26 from 3-point range. The Spurs went only 10-for-23 from the field in the fourth quarter and still shot 55 percent for the game.
"Sometimes, it's exactly as we drew it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Other times, it's a miracle, and that's the truth."
The Thunder made a late surge to get within six points, but Parker, Ginobili and Tim Duncan helped San Antonio finish off the Thunder for a 2-0 lead heading into Game 3 on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
Eastern Conference finals: The Celtics have bigger issues than being upset about a perceived slight.
class="bodytext">Yes, LeBron James dribbled behind his back. Then between his legs, five times. Then threw a behind-the-back pass. And after grabbing an offensive rebound while getting fouled by Kevin Garnett, he smiled and shouted "Yeah" three times.All that came on one possession in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics called it showboating.
They're probably right. But that's not the problem.
Miami got 19 layups and dunks during its Game 1 victory. And if Boston's defensive issues weren't enough cause to concern the Celtics, Ray Allen said his ailing right ankle is getting to be even more problematic -- something that's bound to be a factor again when the matchup resumes in Miami on Wednesday.
"There wasn't a lot of happy guys in our locker room yesterday or in film today when we start out by showing 19 straight layups," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday. "Who wants to watch that? I didn't. I watched it four or five times."
Clippers: Vinny Del Negro will be back as coach after guiding the team to the highest winning percentage in franchise history during the lockout-shortened season.
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