Thunder vs. Spurs
RECAP
CHRIS SILVA | THUNDER.NBA.COM | MARCH 16, 2009

Damien Wilkins was looking for a piggy back ride.
Kevin Durant went for a bear hug.
Thabo Sefolosha was getting compliments from every angle.
Sefolosha had just come up with his final defensive gem of the evening when he blocked Tony Parker’s potential game-winning three-pointer with less than a second remaining in Monday’s game against San Antonio when his teammates showered him with praise.
Their message, according to Sefolosha: “Just good defense. Good defense.”
If Sefolosha had a nickel for every time he heard that, the Thunder swingman would be an even wealthier man.On Monday, against a playoff-bound, championship-caliber Spurs team, every member of the Thunder played exceptional defense.
Oklahoma City limited San Antonio to 47 points over the final three quarters, forced nine turnovers in the second quarter and rallied from a 17-point deficit to come away with an impressive 78-76 victory at the Ford Center.
“One of the best teams in basketball,” Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said of the Spurs. “That’s a team that plays great basketball. They defend, they pass the ball, they share the ball. They’ve been together for so many years, they just know each other so well. We beat a heck of a team.”
All of this came after a subpar first quarter in which the Thunder fell behind, 29-14.
But the nine turnovers OKC forced in the second quarter came during one of its three most complete quarters of basketball this season. A chunk of those turnovers came from deflections in the paint.
“I think from a team standpoint this is one of our better wins,” said guard Chucky Atkins, whose three-pointer with 7:37 left gave OKC the lead for good. “Obviously, it’s against the best opponent we’ve gotten a win over. To a man, I think everybody gave great effort. It was to be commendable.”
Atkins added that Sefolosha simply made “things difficult” for the Spurs.Spurs’ guard Tony Parker was slicing through the Thunder defense all night with dribble penetration on top of knocking down seemingly every shot he hoisted. Parker had 13 of his 28 points in a critical third quarter.
When the Thunder put Sefolosha on Parker midway through the third quarter, the Thunder forward helped limit San Antonio’s All-Star guard.
The 6-7 Sefolosha used his length to help contain Parker. When the two were matched up, the Spurs started running Parker off high screens in an attempt to free him.
“Late in the fourth quarter, because of what Thabo did, it kind of wore him down,” Atkins said. “Your legs get tired, you’ve got to do all that running around, you have to weave through people, get to the basket and score for your team, you can get tired.”
Sefolosha finished with 12 points, two assists, three steals and two blocks in 34 minutes. Kevin Durant, in his second game back from an ankle injury, led OKC with 25 points. Nick Collison added eight points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Lost amidst the Thunder’s defensive prowess was the fact that it didn’t commit a turnover in the fourth quarter and had just two in the third quarter. That helped ease the Thunder’s shooting woes (36.4%).
Still, tonight was all about defense.
“I thought our defense was very good,” Brooks said. “We were really engaged and really focused and concentrated on every possession down the court. If there’s such a thing for us right now, it felt like a playoff atmosphere for us in March.”
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