Spurs vs. Thunder: Game 3 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

The San Antonio Spurs continue to frustrate the Oklahoma City Thunder's offensive attack, as they rode a strong defensive effort and clutch free-throw shooting to a 100-96 victory and a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference Semifinals.  

The Spurs struggled on offense throughout the game, though the duo of LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard continued to find success. They combined for 55 points and 19 rebounds in the win. 

This was a game in which so many little things played a big role down the stretch. Leonard made the biggest play of the game, getting an offensive rebound with less than 25 seconds remaining and San Antonio leading 96-94. 

Tony Parker got fouled moments later and made both of his free throws to extend the Spurs' lead. The Thunder responded with a basket from Dion Waiters to make it a 98-96 game, but they took so long to find an opening that they left themselves just 4.8 seconds on the clock. 

Tim Duncan made a terrific inbounds pass, lobbing the ball into Leonard who sprinted around to take two seconds off the clock before finally getting fouled. He made both free throws to seal the win. 

Parker added 19 points, his best scoring output since an April 12 win against Oklahoma City. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich got minimal production from the seven other players who entered the game, as they combined for just 26 points. 

Serge Ibaka, who has drawn the primary task of guarding Aldridge, isn't doing anything to disrupt the San Antonio star's rhythm:

ESPN.com's Royce Young almost sounded sympathetic to Ibaka's plight so far this series:

CBS Sports' Matt Moore even noted that Aldridge's stats in Game 3 were worse than the previous two games:

This wound up being another frustrating night for the Thunder, who became notorious in the regular season for blowing leads in the fourth quarter. On Friday, they made a comeback midway through the last quarter after long periods of being stymied. 

Every time the Thunder looked like they were on the verge of taking control in the first 36 minutes, the Spurs had an answer. There were two moments in the third quarter where the pendulum was swinging in Oklahoma City's direction. 

Ibaka cut the Thunder's deficit to two at 58-56 with a three-pointer, but Tony Parker answered with a three of his own on San Antonio's next possession to extend San Antonio's lead back to five. 

Moments later, with the Thunder trailing 61-57, Russell Westbrook was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws. Leonard gave San Antonio the answer it needed with a drive to the basket and slam. 

The Thunder finally broke through in the fourth quarter, taking an 81-77 after back-to-back threes from Ibaka and Westbrook. The Spurs scored on their next seven possessions to take a six-point lead. 

Kevin Durant didn't have a bad shooting night, hitting on 10 of his 18 attempts to finish with 26 points, but Popovich's defensive game plan clearly focused on stopping him, as this still image captured by Moore shows:

Nate Jones pointed out the difference in offensive philosophy between Popovich and Oklahoma City head coach Billy Donovan when it comes to creating plays for their respective team's best player:

Westbrook wasn't helping matters with yet another poor shooting performance, despite that big three in the fourth quarter. He went 10-of-31 from the field, marking the third straight game he's missed at least 14 field goals. 

Oklahoma City's star point guard also had two costly turnovers late in the fourth quarter that led to four points for San Antonio. 

Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports humorously broke down what Westbrook's turnovers meant for this game:

"

Turning it over was a bad decision on Westbrook’s part.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) May 7, 2016"

It's a credit to Oklahoma City's defense that the Thunder were able to keep this game close through three quarters to make their late surge. Even Dion Waiters was earning kudos from the ESPN announcing crew, per Welcome to Loud City:

Yet that defense only goes so far if the offense isn't executing. The Thunder made too many mistakes, especially late in the fourth quarter, which NBC Sports' Kurt Helin noted is a trend for opponents of the Spurs:

This game was emblematic of all the problems that prevented Oklahoma City from playing at the same level as San Antonio and Golden State during the regular season. The Thunder had sloppy turnovers late, poor time management in the final minute and didn't get the ball into Durant's hands enough. 

Westbrook is a supreme talent who can dominate, but he's also a maddening player because of his tendency to try to do everything on his own when he has a superstar teammate and a good roster around him to help out. 

The Spurs continue to do their thing quietly. This wasn't a pretty game from an execution standpoint, but they made all of the little plays down the stretch to win. Popovich has never cared about style points, as long as the final result goes his way. 

With two more wins, Popovich can celebrate another appearance in the Western Conference Finals. He might be tempted to crack a smile if that happens.

Postgame Reaction

Even though the NBA is regarded as a young man's game, Parker stole the show for San Antonio in its Game 3 victory. His performance wasn't lost on Popovich, who told reporters (via Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News) the point guard "did a wonderful job":

Sticking with the notion of leadership, per RJ Marquez of ABC 12 in San Antonio, Parker discussed his role as the one taking control of the team huddle during a timeout down the stretch:

Per Young, Danny Green explained that Parker's leadership skills as a point guard were crucial in the victory:

Popovich was dishing out all sorts of compliments after the win, even going to so far as to say Leonard is "a good player," per NBA TV:

Westbrook did take responsibility for one of Oklahoma City's gaffes down the stretch, in which four Thunder players were bunched together and no one moved out to cover Parker as he nailed a wide-open jumper, per Moore of CBS Sports:

In addition to the defensive lapse, per NBA TV, Westbrook said he needs "to do a better job of executing" moving forward after missing 21 of his 31 shot attempts.

The Thunder don't have a lot of time to turn things around, needing to win three of four games against San Antonio to keep their dreams of winning an NBA title alive.