SAN ANTONIO â€" The MVP chants for the San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker began in Tuesday's second quarter, then Tim Duncan streaked across the lane and dunked over Serge Ibaka, and it soon became apparent the Oklahoma City Thunder would depart Texas winless.
By Brendan Maloney, US Presswire
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half in Game 2 on Tuesday at San Antonio. Parker had 34 points and the Spurs won.
By Brendan Maloney, US Presswire
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half in Game 2 on Tuesday at San Antonio. Parker had 34 points and the Spurs won.
Parker scored 34 points and the Spurs led wire-to-wire, winning 120-111 for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.
In a game Thunder guard James Harden (30 points) called a must-win, San Antonio didn't let up. And it was Duncan's second-quarter dunk over one of the NBA's vaunted shot blockers â€" who is 14 years Duncan's junior â€" that electrified the capacity crowd at the AT&T Center.
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"It's like a vintage Timmy," Parker said. "Serge, he's tough. He's going to block shots. But on that one, Timmy got the better of him."
Parker ran circles around Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook (27 points, eight assists) and the Oklahoma City defense, driving the lane on pick-and-roll screens and nailing floating jumpers and finding teammates for wide-open threes. He shot 16-for-21 for the game and finished with eight assists.
Parker's greatest performance this postseason came as no surprise to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
"Tony's been great all year," Popovich said. "He's really been focused the entire season. What he did tonight, we've seen many times before.
"But he was excellent. He played a fantastic game in a lot of ways."
He assisted on five three-pointers including a critical one in the fourth quarter by Manu Ginobili (20 points). Oklahoma City cut the Spurs lead to six late in the fourth quarter but the Spurs came back with an 8-3 run to seal the win.
"It was just one of those nights," Parker said. "I felt in a good rhythm early on."
Thunder coach Scott Brooks praised the Spurs for their experience and know-how. Rarely, said Brooks, did the Spurs take an extra dribble instead of pass. "It's good basketball," Brooks said.
Parker and Duncan led the Spurs on a 10-2 opening run during which the Thunder missed their first four shots. Thunder star Kevin Durant was the last of Oklahoma City's starters to take a shot. Durant picked up the pace later in the quarter after a timeout by Brooks, who told reporters in a pregame interview that Durant needed to "show more force."
Durant wound up with 31 points on 10-for-17 shooting but couldn't help overcome a deficit that stretched to as many as 22 in the third quarter.
The Spurs shot 55.1% in becoming the fourth team in NBA history to generate a 20-game winning streak despite yielding over 100 points for the first time in the 2012 playoffs.
"Scoring was important for us tonight, because I thought our defense wasn't near as good as it was in Game 1," Popovich said.
Now Oklahoma City must win four of five. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, 14 of 246 teams in NBA playoff history (5.7%) have come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. The last team to do it? The 2007-08 Spurs.
"We feel like we're good enough to win on anybody's floor, and we didn't do that the last two games," Brooks said. "Nothing to cry about; they beat us fair and square. Now we've got an opportunity to take care of Game 3. If we do that, we're back in business."
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