Thunder Even Series With Spurs After Wild Game 2 Finish

The Western Conference Semifinals has an entirely different feel after Game 2, which the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 98-97.

Western Conference Semis Tied At 1

Kevin Durant rebounded after a poor shooting performance in Game 1, scoring 28 points on 11-19 shooting.  The 6’9″ forward also grabbed seven rebounds and recorded four assists and a block.  OKC’s other All-Star, Russell Westbrook, flirted with a triple-double with 29 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.

Thunder big men Steven Adams, Serge Ibaka, and Enes Kanter scored 12 points each, with Adams also grabbing 17 rebounds.

After allowing the Spurs to score 43 first quarter points in Game 1’s disastrous loss, the Thunder limited the San Antonio offense to just 21 in the second game’s opening frame.

Despite the slow start for the Spurs’ offense, LaMarcus Aldridge followed up his magnificent Game 1 performance (38 points) with 41 in the loss.  Aldridge was the only San Antonio starter to make a real impact on the offensive end of the floor and Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili were the only other players to score in double figures.

Aldridge made more field goals (15) than the rest of the Spurs’ starters combined (14), and taking out his superb shooting game (15-21, San Antonio shot just 34.2%, down from 42.6% with the power forward’s stats included.

“It feels horrible,” Aldridge said. “Feels like it was wasted. I’ve never been about trying to get points and not win; I always try to do things to win. If you win, it’s totally a different feeling, but losing like that hurts.”

Down the stretch Aldridge made two key three point play:, a shot from the top of the arc with 25 seconds left, and made all three free throw attempts after being fouled by Ibaka with 13 seconds left, to cut OKC’s lead to 98-97.

After a Thunder timeout to advance the ball, all hell broke loose in a wild finish.

Dion Waiters was in charge of inbounding the ball for the Thunder.  After narrowly avoiding a 5-second violation he throws a bad lob pass to Durant.  Its immediately stolen by Danny Green, who advances the ball to Patty Mills.  Mills gets the ball to a cutting Ginobili, who instead of going up with his left hand (his strong hand), he kicked it back out to Mills on the baseline.

Mills air-balled the shot and there was a scrum under the basket until time ran out.  Game over, even series.

There were several missed calls in this sequence, the most blatant of which was Waiters creating space to inbound the ball by elbowing Ginobili, which would’ve resulted in a technical foul.

Referee Ken Mauer said after the game, “On the floor, we did not see a foul on the play. However, upon review we realize and we agree that we should have had an offensive foul on the play. It’s a play that we have never seen before, ever, but we feel we should have had an offensive foul on Waiters.”

In the video, you can also see Leonard has a whole fistful of Westbrook’s jersey. According to the NBA Rulebook, this would’ve also been a technical foul:

Section X–Away-From-The-Play Foul
a. During the last two minutes of the fourth period or overtime period(s) with the offensive team in possession of the ball, all personal fouls which are assessed against the defensive team prior to the ball being released on a throw-in and/or away-from-the-play, shall be administered as follows:
(1) A personal foul and team foul shall be assessed and one free throw attempt shall be awarded. The free throw may be attempted by any play-er in the game at the time the personal foul was committed.
(2) If the foul occurs when the ball is inbounds, the offended team shall be awarded the ball at the nearest point where play was interrupted but no nearer to the baseline than the free throw line extended.
(3) If the foul occurs prior to the release on a throw-in, the offended team shall be awarded the ball at the original throw-in spot, with all privileges, if any, remaining.

Another call that was missed, even before Waiters’ elbow, but not as obvious, was Ginobili stepping on the out of bounds line while guarding the in bound pass. This would’ve also resulted in a tech and OKC would’ve retained possession.

Also occurring in the video above, is Mills grabbing Adams’ back, in a similar manner to the Leonard/Westbrook scenario, this would’ve also been a tech in favor of OKC.

Two other things happening on the play, are Waiters jumping to inbound the ball, which is not allowed unless your on the baseline. This should’ve resulted in a change of possession in favor of the Spurs.

Even after all of the missed calls, the play still should’ve been reset because the clock begins to run before Durant, or any other player, even touches the ball.

Then after Adams, contests the shot by Mills, he goes crashing into the crowd, a somewhat common occurrence. As Adams goes to re-enter the play, a fan grabs his arm, seemingly keeping Adams from returning to the play.

There were also two plays that are open to how you interpret a foul or the final seconds. On the inbound play, Green makes contact with Durant’s arm, prior to the steal. The other is the battle for the loose ball following the missed shot. Ibaka is battling both Leonard and Aldridge, and appears to grab both of their jerseys in the scrum under the basket. Neither Spur argued or reacted after the play however.

The NBA officials are always under fire, especially in the playoffs, and this bizarre sequence is not going to reinforce faith that the refs are going to get all of the calls right. Nonetheless, there is little that can be done since the game is already over.

The Thunder now have three of the last five games of the series at home (If it goes the full seven). The Spurs lost for the second time all season at home after going 40-1 at the AT&T Center in the regular season.

The teams will have three days off before Game 3 tips off on Friday, May 6 in Oklahoma City at 9:30 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

PHOTO: SAN ANTONIO,TX – MAY 2: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder scores in front of Danny Green #14 of the San Antonio Spurs during game Two of the Western Conference Semifinals for the 2016 NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center on May 2, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas.  NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that , by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)

Article by Nick Vigliotti