San Antonio Spurs 101, Oklahoma City Thunder 98 (Spurs lead series, 1-0) These things just sort of write themselves, don't they? Charged with playing their first NBA game in a week, the San Antonio Spurs came out with a nervous and ultimately sloppy first half filled with 14 turnovers. In the third quarter, they watched as an inspired Oklahoma City Thunder team defied script and got out on shooters with a precision that was unlike what we've seen from OKC this year. Then the fourth quarter hit, and the San Antonio Spurs got San Antonio Spurs all over the place. Possibly moved by a timeout speech that saw coach Gregg Popovich implore his team to get "nasty," the Spurs opened the quarter by using OKC's pressure against itself, releasing Tiago Splitter to the rim with a series of misdirection plays. The defense tightened, on the other end, with Stephen Jackson moving over to guard Kevin Durant, and establishing a physical report both on and off the ball that the referees were apparently cool with. Yes, the Spurs seemed to get a lot of calls, but they put themselves in a position to get those calls, and those calls didn't decide the game — San Antonio's wearing insistence on playing perfect basketball did. Bottle up the lane on the defensive end, dive into the lane on the other end, and soon enough you're outscoring the Thunder with a 39-27 fourth quarter.

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