By: Michael Doutey

The Oklahoma City Thunder win their second straight game with a 90-87 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Well, the Thunder really played the Spurs junior varsity. The Spurs were without Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, LaMarcus Aldridge while Pau Gasol and Danny Green both played fewer than 20 minutes. Regardless of who the Thunder play, you can count on one thing. The Thunder will blow a double digit lead against anybody. The Thunder held a 14 point lead in the first half but early in the fourth quarter the Spurs came back and took a one point lead. The Thunder found a way to win this game and honestly, it didn’t matter who the Thunder faced tonight, OKC just needed a win. They got it in an ugly performance, but the win still counts. Here are tonight’s five observations from OKC’s second consecutive win.

1. 2nd Half Shooting

The Thunder were cruising at halftime, leading 54-43. The Thunder were shooting really well, too. OKC was shooting 52.3 percent from the floor. But the second half comes around and the Thunder went cold. The Thunder shot 32 percent in the second half and went 6-23 in the final quarter. The Thunder mustered just 36 points in the second half and just 14 points in the fourth. The Thunder did a nice job of creating open looks, but they didn’t fall. Billy Donovan was really happy with the effort to move the ball and find the open man. But, for whatever reason, the Thunder couldn’t make any open shots.

2. 10-21

The Thunder motto for free throws should read “Free Throws that aren’t all that free.” The Thunder shot a terrible 10-21 from the charity stripe against the Spurs. Russell Westbrook, who had turned around his mysterious poor start from the line this season, reverted back to his old ways going 2-6 from the line. Steven Adams, who went 5-5 the previous game, shot 3-6 from the line tonight. Against the Spurs JV this won’t hurt the team as bad. But the Thunder really need to shoot a whole lot better from the line to win games.

3. 2-17

Paul George had a wretched game shooting the basketball. PG scored 8 points on 2-17 shooting and 1-5 from three. And Paul had open looks, but he couldn’t hit anything till late in the game. PG swished an open three with just over four minutes in the game to help propel the Thunder to a victory. The Thunder really misses PG’s scoring punch tonight. Had he been able to hit a few looks in the second half the Thunder could have easily put away the Spurs. But Paul spent much of the first half in foul trouble and he struggled to find a rhythm on offense. That may have been the biggest reason for his off shooting night.

4. 7th Triple Double

The triple double watch isn’t has important as it was a season ago. But Russ had his seventh of the season tonight. He scored 22 points on a poor 9-22 shooting from the floor. He added 10 rebounds and 10 assists tonight. But I don’t think Westbrook played all that well. He had seven turnovers, including a really bad one coming out a timeout where Russell was caught and trapped at midcourt with a few seconds to go in the game. The Spurs had the opportunity to tie the game with a three, but the Thunder managed to hold on for the win. That sequence told the story tonight. Everything the Thunder did well was by their own doing. Everything the Spurs JV did well tonight was gifted by the Thunder. Russ needs to be better. I’ve been disappointed to the start of his season, honestly. I guess that speaks to just how good Russ is that I’m not pleased with his night, even when he has a triple double.

5. Adams Strong Scoring Continues 

Steven Adams was the team’s second leading scorer for the second night in a row. Adams posted 19 points on 8-13 shooting and he grabbed 10 boards. But Adams only scored two points after halftime and he only had three shots the whole second half. He was scoring easily in the first half and for a team who was struggling to make shots in the later parts of the game, Adams would have been a great option. OKC needs to use Adams more for easy buckets when the game is tight and the team is struggling to score.

The Thunder move to 10-12 on the season and look to add to their win streak Tuesday night. The Thunder will host the Utah Jazz and tip time is set for 7 p.m. inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena.