Thunder comes in on wrong side of a big rally against Spurs
![Russell Westbrook passes around Pau Gasol during Friday’s game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Spurs won, 100-95. [Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman]](https://cdn2.newsok.biz/cache/w640-1b1d958d005108ab4c6f887815724bec.jpg)
The game did not turn when the Thunder entertainment crew trotted out three contestants for a closest-to-the-pin putting contest, with a Thunder-themed golf cart as the prize, only to discover that no one had brought a golf ball.
No reason why such nonsense should decide a Thunder-Spurs game.
But Thunder fans say the same about Andre Roberson going to the bench. Yet it did.
The Thunder blew a 21-point lead and lost 100-95 Friday night to a San Antonio team that got new life when the Thunder’s least-appreciated player found foul trouble. Roberson, who totaled just two points on 1-of-5 shooting, showed his value by sitting. The Thunder wilted without Roberson’s defense on Kawhi Leonard.
A game after rallying from a 21-point deficit to win in Orlando, the Thunder discovered life from the other side.
When Roberson was whistled for his fourth foul with 6:49 left in the third quarter, and went to the bench 16 seconds later, the Thunder led 66-47. That’s when the Spurs started chipping away. Roberson’s defense had been superb – Leonard had made just four of 12 shots to that point – and Roberson’s scrappiness had produced 10 rebounds.
With no Roberson, the Spurs found an offense. They scored on 11 of 15 possessions to finish out the quarter. Leonard scored 11 points in the final 4:32 of the period, and the Spurs cut their deficit to 78-73 going into the…