Spurs guard Tony Parker poured in 34 points and added 8 assists on Tuesday night as his team beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-111 to mount a 2-0 lead in the NBA Western Conference finals.
With the win, the Spurs set an NBA record with their 20th consecutive victory bridging the regular season and the playoffs.
“It’s great and it is a great run,” Spurs center Tim Duncan said following the game. “But we are only worried about the next two wins in this series. That is all that matters, at this point.”
Duncan finished the contest with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Manu Ginobili added 20 points, as the Spurs put on an offensive clinic for three quarters against the Thunder, shooting 60 percent and building a 22-point lead.
“We like to play like that,” said Parker, who hit 16 of 21 shots. “That’s the way we play.”
Shadowed by by the Spurs’ offensive excellence, OKC forward Kevin Durant had 31 points, Russell Westbrook had 27 points and eight assists and James Harden rebounded from a rough Game 1 to score 30 for the Thunder, who have lost two straight for the first time since early April.
Oklahoma City dropped to 15-4 in games after losses this season.
“There are no moral victories for us,” Durant said after his team’s loss. “We were down. We dug ourselves a hole. We did what we normally do, which is fight all game, and we lost.”
Westbrook added:
“We’ve got to worry about Game 3. Regardless of what’s going on with this last game or the next game, we’ve got to worry about Game 3 and come in with the same mindset and try to get a win.”
Tony Parker and the Spurs head to Oklahoma City on Thursday to take on the Thunder in Game 3 of the 2012 NBA Western Conference finals.
ESPN points out that only 14 teams in NBA playoff history have overcome 2-0 deficits to win a series.
Check out highlights for Game 2 of the Spurs/Thunder series in the video below: via ESPN