San Antonio Spurs vs Oklahoma City Thunder Match Player Stats On Dec 03, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 3, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Playing against a San Antonio Spurs team depleted by injuries and other absences, the Oklahoma City Thunder nearly let the Sunday night game get away.

A turnover in the final seconds gave the Spurs one last chance to tie it, but Brandon Paul's 3-point attempt just before the buzzer missed the mark and Raymond Felton wrangled the rebound to give the Thunder a 90-87 win at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Russell Westbrook had his seventh triple-double of the season, finishing with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He committed seven turnovers. Steven Adams added 19 points and 10 boards for the Thunder (10-12).

The Thunder went scoreless for the final 3:34 after Westbrook's 3-pointer put them up 90-82.

Dejounte Murray led the Spurs (15-8) with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Davis Bertans added 16 points and five blocks.

Even with the league's new rest rules, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich used a skeleton lineup against the Thunder as his team began a stretch of five games in seven nights.

Already without All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs sat forwards LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay, and guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

Aldridge was listed as missing due to rest, while Gay had a sore right heel. Parker's absence was chalked up to management as he returns from injury. Parker (quadriceps) missed the season's first 19 games before playing in the last three before the meeting with the Thunder.

Then after playing 16 first-half minutes and scoring five points, San Antonio center Pau Gasol sat out the entire second half.

Ginobili's night off was listed as a "coach's decision."

Popovich called the Spurs' upcoming schedule "ridiculous."

But even with all that, San Antonio stayed in the game until the end, briefly taking the lead late in the fourth quarter after trailing to that point.

The Thunder got a scare early in the fourth quarter when Westbrook stayed on the floor grabbing his thigh after losing the ball in the lane.

However, after the Thunder got the ball back and called a timeout to attend to Westbrook, he remained in the game.

Oklahoma City shot just 6 of 23 from the floor in the fourth quarter.

NOTES: San Antonio F Kyle Anderson sustained a left medial knee sprain with one minute to go in the third quarter. Anderson was carried off the floor by teammates and did not return. ... With San Antonio using a depleted lineup, PG Derrick White played for the first time since Nov. 2. White, returning from a right wrist fracture that kept him out for 12 games, scored four points. ... Thunder F Paul George struggled with foul trouble early and didn't score until early in the third quarter. He wound up with eight points and eight rebounds. ... Spurs F/C Joffrey Lauvergne dislocated a finger on his right hand early in the fourth quarter. He had the bone reset during a timeout and stayed in the game.