Spurs vs. Thunder: Game 3 Highlights, Twitter Reaction and Analysis

The Oklahoma City Thunder thoroughly dominated the San Antonio Spurs by a score of 102-82 in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.

So the Spurs can lose after all. 

After snapping San Antonio's 20-game win streak, the Thunder climb closer to evening this series, which now stands at two games to one. 

Let's take a closer look at this fairly one-sided battle.

Video Highlights

All I have to say about this Kevin Durant dunk in the first half is "wow." Take a look:

Oh, I also have to say I'm sorry to Tim Duncan and Matt Bonner.

Later in the second quarter, Russell Westbrook drove and made a nice pass out of traffic to find the wide-open James Harden for the three.

After this one, the Thunder never looked back. 

Twitter Reaction

ESPN's J.A. Adande pointed out in the first quarter how scary it was that the Spurs were able to play so poorly and still stay close:

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Spurs shooting 36 percent with 5 turnovers and still winning

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"— J.A. Adande (@jadande) June 1, 2012"

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Grantland's Sebastian Pruiti reminded us just how well Oklahoma City's defense was playing in the first half.

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OKC is reading the crap out of SAS' offense...great defense on that set...

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"— SebastianPruiti (@SebastianPruiti) June 1, 2012"

Not many teams play as well against the Spurs offense as the Thunder did in this one.

Rafael Uehara gives us this good stat about how the Spurs have actually been turning the ball over in the postseason a lot more than they did during the regular season. That might surprise some people.

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Spurs have turned the ball over 43 times on 243 possessions in this series. That's a 17.6% turnover-rate. Just 14.1% in the regular-season.

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"— Rafael Uehara (@rafael_uehara) June 1, 2012"

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ESPN Stats & Info points out how the Thunder absolutely dominated two important aspects of the game in the first half.

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The Thunder outscored the Spurs 28-8 in the paint in the 1st half. OKC also outscored SA 12-1 on fastbreak Pts.

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"— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 1, 2012"

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After the Thunder extended their lead to over 20, Hardwood Paroxysm, aka CBS' Matt Moore, gives us the OK to cool it with the "G.O.A.T." talk.

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So they're NOT the greatest team of all time. Tonight. At least.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) June 1, 2012"

Grades for Key Spurs Players

Tony Parker: C

It just wasn't a good night for Tony Parker, even though he managed to drop 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting. 

Give credit to the Thunder's defense, but Parker had several terrible passes and often didn't look comfortable. In the end, he finished with just four assists and five turnovers.

Yuck.

That is not vintage Tony Parker. 

If Spurs fans want some silver lining, this probably means Parker will have a big Game 4. 

Tim Duncan: B-

I'm giving Duncan a B- simply because he did an absolutely stellar job protecting the rim. In just 25 minutes, Timmy blocked five shots. That shouldn't go unnoticed. 

Still, the rest of his game was pretty poor.

He had a good amount of open looks, but shot just 5-of-15 for 11 points. Also, the two rebounds is the opposite of what you want from Duncan. That's less than his PG Parker had.

Grades for Key Thunder Players

Kevin Durant: B+

Durant actually had a fairly quiet game. He had many open looks from long range, but was 0-of-4 from downtown. 

Still, he managed to finish with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists, so he found other ways to contributed despite not shooting like he's capable of. 

Russell Westbrook: A

Yes, I know, 5-of-15 from the field.

If he shoots that poorly and gives you seven rebounds, nine assists (to just two turnovers), four steals and two blocks every night, however, you are absolutely going to take it. 

It was a fantastic all-around game for Westbrook.

Deciding Factor: Thunder Defense

San Antonio's offense has proven to be absolutely dominating in the past, but the Thunder beared down in OKC.

Not only did they hold the best offense in the league to 82 points on 39.5 percent shooting, they forced 21 turnovers, grabbed 14 steals and swatted nine shots.

Everyone contributed, too. Thabo Sefolosha racked up six steals, Serge Ibaka had a nice all-around game and even Kendrick Perkins had three blocks.

This was a fantastic all-around game for the Thunder, and it started with their toughness and physicality on the defensive end.

Game MVP: Russell Westbrook

Honestly, you could give it to anyone, especially Thabo Sefolosha (he's a very close No. 2), but I'm thoroughly impressed with the 9-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio as much as the rest of Westbrook's defensive performance.

Throw in his plus-29 (!!) rating, and he gets tonight's imaginary game ball from me.

What's Next: Game 4

These teams will stay in Oklahoma City for Game 4, which takes place on Saturday, June 2 at 8:30 p.m. EDT.