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Lack of rebounding, clutch shooting dooms Spurs
- Updated: May 11, 2016
1:57 AM ET
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs trio of Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge and Danny Green each scored at least 20 points Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, marking the first time since 1996 a threesome accomplished the feat without the involvement of at least one player named Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili or Tony Parker, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Too bad the trio couldn’t contribute more in the rebounding and clutch scoring department during San Antonio’s 95-91 loss, which now puts the Spurs on the brink of elimination from the Western Conference semifinals.
“Well, it’s not like we got beat by 30,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “The game went down to the wire. So both teams played well. I didn’t think anything got away from us. We made mistakes. You’ve got to make shots down the stretch, and sometimes, things have to go your way. We lost a couple of boards there at the end in the fourth quarter just like last game. Russell [Westbrook] was part of that, [Enes] Kanter was part of that, and that’s hurt us through the entire series.”
In Tuesday’s Game 5, the Thunder outrebounded the Spurs by 18 and held Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to single-digit scoring. Soobum Im/USA TODAY Sports
Up 3-2 in the best-of-7 series, Oklahoma City could deliver the death blow Thursday night when the teams clash in Game 6 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. After all, Popovich owns a 2-10 record when facing elimination on the road.
Leonard acknowledged it’s “definitely” difficult to ponder the prospect of elimination.
“The goal is to play until June,” Leonard said. “But it’s not over yet. So I’m not thinking about that. I’m thinking about winning.”
For the most part, Leonard put thoughts to action on the court, too; scoring a team-high 26 points to go with four assists and five steals. But Leonard and the Spurs wilted in the second half under the heat of a furious Thunder run.
The Spurs took an 8-point lead (72-64) with 3 minutesremaining in the third quarter on an Aldridge free throw, and didn’t score again until …
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