Spurs Take Game 1 of Western Conference Finals
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Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(SAN ANTONIO) — The San Antonio Spurs outscored the Oklahoma City Thunder 39-27 in the fourth quarter, as they went on to beat the Thunder 101-98, in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
Heading into the fourth quarter down nine, Spurs head coach Greg Popovich told the team to “get nasty.”
“You got to get a little bit uglier…get a little nasty, you know, play with a little more fiber and take it to these guys. Meaning, you got to drive it, you got to shoot it, you can’t hold it,” Popovich said when explaining what it means to “get nasty”. “We caught the ball and we just held it. They’re long….they’re athletic…they’re really something else, and if we hold the ball it’s not going to work. So we needed to be active and aggressive and we got that way in the fourth quarter.”
Thunder forward Kevin Durant led all scorers with 27 points.
“They do a good job on help defense,” Durant said. “I just got to watch for them and see where I can get better at. I think I got good shots tonight…rebounded the ball…passed the ball, so I did things I wanted to do individually. I just got to do it better next game.”
The Spurs have now won 19 straight games.
Game 2 takes place Tuesday in San Antonio, at 9PM ET.
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