Postgame 24: 11 Games and Counting

Thunder Wins! 107-88

Leaders of the Night

OKC- Serge Ibaka (25 Pts, 17 Reb, 1 Ast, 3 Blk)

San Antonio- Nando de Colo (14 Pts, 2 Reb, 6 Ast, 1 Stl)

Box Score

(Credit: NBA.com)

Gotta love a beat-down. Especially when its the Spurs. 

Coming into the game tonight, the Thunder were walking tall, kicking ass and taking names. There defense wavered slightly against sub-par teams, but it was never anything to worry about. Riding a 10-game win streak, OKC definitely started the game with a little bit of a swagger and ready to run over the Spurs. San Antonio came into the game, having gone 1-2 in the last two games and losing to the likes of Portland and Utah. Knowing the Spurs tendency to have a bounce back game and leave it till late in order to break the hearts of the opponents, no one would have been surprised if they just came out and took it to the Thunder because, unfortunately, it's happened before. Wow, was I surprised.

Air Congo took off for flight tonight, and there was no turbulence. Serge Ibaka was hot-lava smoking from the get-go, looking much like how he had in his game last year when he went a perfect 11-11 from the field against, you guessed it, San Antonio in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. He ended up shooting 8-8 from the field until a throw up ball before the halftime buzzer hit rim and bounced out. 

Serge wasn't the only man getting in on the fun tonight against the Spurs. Kevin Martin was his usual super-efficient self, scoring from the arch, taking it to the hole, and stoppin' and poppin'. He would end up 7-10 for 20 points with 3 from the arch. 

OKC pounded the glass tonight like Amar'e, completely destroying the Spurs on the defensive and , most surprisingly, offensive boards. Serge lead the team with 17 and Nick Collison, having one of his best years of his career, registered 10. 

The Spurs finally bent to Oklahoma City's will in the 4th, keeping many of the starters out and resting for the next game against Denver. Gregg Popovich is a coach who, if he knows that he will lose, will rest his starters because there is not much of the point. 

The Thunder, having completed their home-stand with no losses and riding an 11-game winning streak, head to Atlanta. OKC has a touch stretch ahead, only playing 6 home games between the next game and the same day in February. If they can run the table against Atlanta, Minnesota, and Miami on Christmas Day, Oklahoma City will be a force to recon with and have the number 1 seed fully in there hands going into 2013. That's all depending on if we don't die on Friday. Just kidding!

Analysis: This was a great game tonight against the second-place team in the league. Many analysts still doubted the Thunder because of their pretty easy schedule during this winning streak. However, all doubters were put to rest with this emphatic 19-point win against the Spurs. Ibaka and Martin were destroying the Spurs with efficiency, Russell was as athletic as ever, and Kevin Durant was, well, Kevin Durant. It feels good to not have lost in a while but if the Thunder keeps this up, who knows how many times they will win between now and the All-Star game. 

Player of the Game: Serge Ibaka. Ibaka completely destroyed the Spurs tonight, playing super-efficient as has been normal this year, and rebounding like never before. Serge ended up with 25 points, 17 rebounds, and his customary 3 blocks. 

Stat of the Game: 49/15. Oklahoma City rebounded extremely well tonight, contributing greatly to their win tonight and creating several second-chance opportunities with their 49 rebounds. The Thunder out-rebounded the Spurs on the offensive glass as well, which is very abnormal for a team who likes to rush back on defense. OKC out-rebounding San Antonio,15 to 9, facilitating the blow-out win against the Spurs.

Next Game: Wednesday, December 19 @ Atlanta, 6:30 PM CT

(Credit: Angela Rowe, OKC Thunder Photo)