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The Rockets-Warriors clash last month was considered the best game of the season so far until the Oklahoma City Thunder flew in to play the San Antonio Spurs for their first-ever meeting this season.
The matchup went into double-overtime and packed the energy and intensity of nothing short of a high-stakes playoff game, with the Spurs ending up on the winning side of an astronomical 154-147 scoreline.
The Spurs had won five in a row before dropping one to the Grizzlies when they hosted Westbrook and his OKC. The arduous win for San Antonio also meant that Gregg Popovich would pass Jerry Sloan for third All-Time in NBA head coaching wins. Pop's team improved to 25-18(0.581) on the season, having won seven of their previous ten games, now just 4.5 games behind the Conference-leading Nuggets.
On the other hand, after winning three in a row, this was OKC's third straight loss, as they drop to 25-16(0.610) on the 3rd spot out West. With an unfamiliar rough patch facing them in recent times, they have now lost six of their previous ten, falling as far as 3.5 games below the apex.
Let's draw out some key takeaways from this Spurs' onerous conquest of the Thunder in a blazing encounter.
#1 LaMarcus Aldridge puts up a career-night and carries the Spurs through
Due to the incorporation of DeRozan into the Spurs lineup, Aldridge has not been able to take charge like he did last year. But recent struggles from DeMar's end to take over the game had really been opening gates for other guys to step up. And who'd be more familiar to the pressure than the man who averaged more than 23 points per game for the Spurs last season.
"He's been a beast all year long," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said of Aldridge. "He anchors us at both ends of the floor. He did it last year, and he's doing it this year, too. He's just been fantastic.
LaMarcus dropped a career-high 56 points, 16 of which came from his perfect free-throw shooting on the night. He surpassed his previous career-high of 45 points(scored against Utah in March, 2018), shooting 20-of-33 from the field, along with nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
"I was just complaining about (not scoring 50 points) like two weeks ago," Aldridge said. "That I feel like it should have happened in my career."
San Antonio's big man chipped in seven points in the deciding second-overtime period and clocked in a team-high 49 minutes of playtime for the game.
#2 Russell Westbrook notches an emphatic triple-double as OKC misses Adams down the stretch
In a game that felt like it could go on for eternity, Brodie played the most minutes(50) than anyone on the floor and came up with a monster stat line for himself.
The heartbreaking loss for the Thunder saw an immaculate 24 points triple-double from the former MVP, as he pulled down 13 rebounds and dished out 24 dimes as well. His total of 24 assists in the game is a personal career-high and also the most in any triple-double by any player in the history of the league.
He shot 11-of-22 from the field in the 58-minute clash, on just three turnovers, for a man who's averaging nearly five per game this season. All five starters for the Thunder scored at least 19 points each, but it wasn't enough to pull through for the win down the stretch.
The Thunder do not possess a backup-center in their arsenal. So when Steven Adams tweaked his ankle late in the fourth quarter(while defending Aldridge) and had to leave, LaMarcus went on a scoring outburst, bullying through for 12 straight points.
Adams did return eventually and scored four points in overtime, including two which forced the game into a second overtime. With Thunder set to meet the Spurs again this weekend, the Australian's ankle would remain a cause of concern for the men in blue.
#3 The game was a shooting spectacle for all who had the fortune to witness it
With Westbrook at the helm, the Thunder took 114 shots throughout the night and were able to make 58 of them, bringing their conversion down to a decent 50.9% in the loss. The Spurs, on the other hand, went 56-of-99 from the field as a collective unit, good enough for a scorching 56.6% shooting night at home.
The Thunder came into this game, holding their opponents to just 33.3%(third lowest) from deep, but what transpired in the opening minutes can be deemed a stark exception.
The hosts set a franchise record for starting with 14 straight threes(breaking their previous high to start a game with 11 threes), finishing the game with 16 made-threes in total. The ever-so-rare 84.2%(16-of-19) conversion from the deep was the most OKC has allowed this season.
The Thunder shot a bearable 15-of-35(42.9%) from the distance themselves.
They have never won a game in San Antonio since December 2014.
