NBA: San Antonio beats Oklahoma City for 2-0 lead in West finals

NBA playoffs • San Antonio builds 22-point lead, holds off OKC.
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San Antonio • San Antonio is halfway to turning the Western Conference finals into a runaway.

Tony Parker scored 34 points, Manu Ginobili added 20 and the Spurs stayed perfect in the playoffs with a 120-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

The Spurs set an NBA record with their 20th consecutive victory bridging the regular season and the playoffs. They came in sharing the longest such streak with the 2000-01 Lakers, who won 19 straight before losing to Philadelphia in the first game of the finals.

Those Lakers went on to win the championship and there's no reason yet to think the Spurs won't do the same. They put on an offensive clinic for three quarters, shooting 60 percent from the field and leading by as many as 22 points in the third quarter.

Parker finished with eight of the Spurs' 27 assists, and San Antonio went 11-for-26 from 3-point range. The Spurs went only 10-for-23 from the field in the fourth quarter and still shot 55 percent for the game.

"Sometimes, it's exactly as we drew it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the offense. "Other times, it's a miracle, and that's the truth. It doesn't always go exactly the way you planned. Good players get it done."

The Thunder made a late surge to get within six points, but Parker, Ginobili and Tim Duncan helped San Antonio finish off the Thunder for a 2-0 lead heading into Game 3 Thursday night in Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant had 31 points and James Harden rebounded from a rough Game 1 to score 30 for the Thunder, who have lost two straight for the first time since early April.

"Our guys played hard," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Unfortunately, we came away with nothing the last few days."

San Antonio picked up where it left off from the 39-point fourth quarter that turned Game 1 on Sunday. With sharp passes and hot shooting, the Spurs jumped to a 19-9 lead after the Thunder missed six of their first seven shots and had three turnovers in the first 4 minutes.

The Spurs shot 52 percent (12 for 23) in the opening quarter, though, and led 28-22. Durant was on the bench at the start of the second quarter, and Parker and the Spurs put together a 14-4 spurt to stretch the gap to 13 points. —

Storylines Spurs 120, Thunder 111

R San Antonio beats Oklahoma City for its 20th straight win, taking a 2-0 lead in the West finals.

• Tony Parker scores 34 points for the Spurs, and Kevin Durant leads the Thunder with 31.