Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs Box Score on Nov 17, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 17, 2017

SAN ANTONIO -- LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points, the final two on crucial basket in the final minute, as the San Antonio Spurs roared back from a ragged beginning to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-101 on Friday in a wild game at the AT&T Center.

After trailing by as many as six points in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City pulled to within 100-99 on a free thrown by Paul George with 45 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession Aldridge scored on a putback of a missed 3-pointer by Danny Green to push San Antonio's lead to 102-99 before the Thunder's Carmelo Anthony canned a jumper with his right foot on the 3-point line with 5 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 102-101.

Pau Gasol then hit two free throws with 2 seconds to play and, after a time out, Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook had to settle for a contested, wild shot at the buzzer that didn't even hit the rim.

Green added 17 points for the Spurs (10-6) while Gasol hit for 14 and Kyle Anderson scored 10 points for San Antonio.

Anthony led the Thunder (7-8) with 20 points. George added 18 points, Steven Adams tallied 16 points and Westbrook scored 15 points, took nine rebounds and racked up nine assists of Oklahoma City, which had a three-game win streak snapped.

The Thunder roared out of the gate, forging a 32-15 lead at the end of a dominating first quarter as Westbrook scored 10 points and Oklahoma City made 12 of its 22 shots from the floor.

Oklahoma City boosted its lead to as many as 23 points in the second quarter before the Spurs found their stride, roaring back to with a 28-12 run over the final nine minutes of the half to pull back to within 55-47 at intermission.

Green led all scorers in the half with 14 points, while Westbrook had 12 and Anthony scored 11 points for the Thunder.

The third quarter was virtually even until the Spurs' Davis Bertans canned back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minute to tie the game at 78 and set the stage for the furious finish. San Antonio took the lead on a Manu Ginobili 3-pointer on the first possession of the fourth quarter and was never headed again.

NOTES: San Antonio's Gregg Popovich is the third coach in NBA history with 500 road wins, joining Don Nelson and Pat Riley and is the fastest coach to that milestone, reaching the mark in just 835 games away from home. ... Oklahoma City center Steven Adams played for the first time since Nov. 9 against Denver; the Thunder went 3-0 with rookie Dakari Johnson in the starting lineup in Adams' absence. ... The Thunder entered Friday's game leading the league in steals per game (10.43) and opponent turnovers per game (19). ... The Spurs' next game is at home against Atlanta in Monday while Oklahoma City heads to New Orleans, also on Monday.