Pro Sports

Spurs finish strong road trip with 112-102 win over Thunder

Posted January 12, 2021 6:00 am

By MURRAY EVANS

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Hamidou Diallo, center, goes to the basket between San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, left, and guard Devin Vassell (24) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Lonnie Walker IV scored 24 points and San Antonio beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-102 on Tuesday night, allowing the Spurs to finish a five-game trip with four wins.

Keldon Johnson added 18 points for the Spurs, who won their 2,200th game since joining the NBA in 1976. The Spurs committed a season-low four turnovers.

'œI feel like we fought the whole road trip,'ť Johnson said. 'œWe gave one away in Minnesota ... but we knew we just had to bounce back and continue to keep fighting and trusting each other and we came out a winner. A road trip like this, we just kept fighting and staying together.'ť

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 20 points while Hamidou Diallo scored 16. The Thunder are 0-4 this season at Chesapeake Energy Arena but 5-1 on the road. Oklahoma City's next three games are at home.

The Spurs led 51-43 at halftime before Oklahoma City started the third quarter on an 11-3 run to tie the game. Walker and Trey Lyles each hit a 3-pointer to rebuild the Spurs' lead to 62-55 and they never trailed again.

A 3-pointer by Patty Mills, who scored 17 points, gave San Antonio its largest lead at 85-75 with 10:49 left. The Thunder closed within four points several times after that, the last at 104-100 with 2:25 left, but missed a chance to draw closer when Al Horford missed a 3-point attempt. The Spurs hit all six of their free throws in the final minute.

'œThey had a really low amount of turnovers. They got a shot every time down,'ť Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. 'œWe didn't kick the ball all over the gym, but they really converted, obviously, when we did turn it over. That's a quality team that executes on both ends and doesn't beat themselves. We certainly had our chances but it obviously wasn't enough tonight to get over the top.'ť

TIP-INS

Spurs: DeMar DeRozan missed a second straight game for personal reasons. ... With 13 points, LaMarcus Aldridge moved past John Stockton into 47th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Aldridge has 19,720 points. Aldridge also moved up a spot to 70th on the NBA's career list for blocked shots. His two against the Thunder gave him 1,118. ... Dejounte Murray received a technical foul with 9:13 left in the third quarter after the Spurs had rebounded a missed Oklahoma City shot.

Thunder: Oklahoma City entered the game averaging 13.6 3-pointers per game but went 7 of 26 from behind the arc. ... Gilgeous-Alexander fell a rebound shy of his second double-double of the season.

QUOTABLE

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, on his team's low number of turnovers: 'œIf I (could), I'd bottle it. It's not like we've done no-turnover drills. They've just taken care of the ball really well. We've done nothing special. We've called a few more plays to get them a little bit more organized, so it's a little bit less frantic than in the past. That's all I can think of, really.'ť

UP NEXT

Spurs: Host the Houston Rockets for a pair of games on Thursday and Saturday.

Thunder: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday as part of a four-game homestand.

___

More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) goes to the basket in front of Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and center Al Horford (42) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) The Associated Press

Oklahoma City Thunder center Al Horford (42) shoots between San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills (8), forward Trey Lyles and forward Keldon Johnson, back right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) The Associated Press

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Darius Bazley (7) shoots in front of San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, left, and forward Rudy Gay (22) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) The Associated Press

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Theo Maledon, front, goes to the basket as San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) The Associated Press

San Antonio Spurs guard Lonnie Walker IV (1) shoots between Oklahoma City Thunder guard Theo Maledon, left, and forward Darius Bazley, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) The Associated Press

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots in front of San Antonio Spurs center LaMarcus Aldridge, left, and guard Lonnie Walker IV during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) The Associated Press

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