Lightning strikes again: Spurs fall to Thunder
Jeff McDonald
Very much in spite of themselves, and in spite of a 96-95 loss to Oklahoma City, the Spurs clinched a playoff berth Tuesday.
There is no telling who the Spurs will play in the first round, but this much is for certain: They can be glad it won't be the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Propelled by a scorching first half — and after surviving the Spurs' parting shot — the Thunder, last place in the Northwest Division, left the AT&T Center with their second win over the Spurs in 15 days.
“We're really struggling right now, going through a bad time,” said forward Tim Duncan, whose Spurs slipped into a third-place tie behind Denver in the Western Conference. “It's not a good time of year to be going through that. We have to take personal responsibility and change what's happening.”
Devoid of a win over Oklahoma City, the Spurs needed either a Portland victory over Utah or a Denver win against New York in order to clinch their 12th consecutive postseason bid. They got both of those, ensuring the foregone conclusion of a playoff trip.
But for the Spurs, searching for momentum with eight games left in the regular season, that's hardly the point right now.
The Spurs trailed the Thunder (21-53) by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, which should have been a familiar number. That was the Spurs' largest lead in a game March 16 at Oklahoma City, one they ultimately gave away in a 78-76 defeat.
This time, it was the Spurs who came roaring back, but not quite all the way. Three times in the fourth quarter, the Spurs pulled within one. The last of them came with 35.9 seconds to go, when Duncan tapped in his own miss to make it 96-95.
Duncan blocked Jeff Green on the other end, setting the Spurs up with a chance to win.
The play that unfolded looked like nothing Gregg Popovich would draw up, even after too many glasses of wine.
Manu Ginobili nearly threw the ball away looking for Tony Parker. Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook batted it into the corner, where Ginobili tracked it down with about four seconds left, nearly falling out of bounds.
At this point, the Spurs coaches began hollering for someone to call timeout. Nobody did.
Ginobili saved the ball to Duncan, who swung it to Michael Finley with 1.9 seconds remaining. Finley actually got a good look at a 19-footer, but it hit the back rim as time expired.
As it did, the Thunder had just their seventh road victory this season. The Spurs got another sour defeat in a month overflowing of them.
The Spurs finished the month 9-8, their worst record in March since 1996-97.
“We've been up and down,” Popovich said. “Some nights we've played well. Other nights are like tonight.”
Kevin Durant pumped in 31 points to lead the Thunder. Westbrook added 16 points and 10 assists.
Duncan had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, while Ginobili scored 17 in his first start since Dec. 9.
For the second game in a row, the Spurs were cockeyed from the 3-point stripe. A game after going 7 of 29 in a loss at New Orleans, they were 8 of 25 against Oklahoma City.
When their latest off night was over, the Spurs were left to ponder the Thunder's sudden mastery of them. They have one week to find an answer.
Then, they head to Oklahoma City to finish the season series against their newfound nemesis.
asta y ayo na team, lupigon nlang ta??...
And yet year after year (for a freakin' DECADE) we just kept coming at it. 
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