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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

San Antonio Spurs take 2-0 lead in West final series | NBA - The Seattle Times

SAN ANTONIO â€" San Antonio is halfway to turning the Western Conference finals into a runaway.

Tony Parker scored 34 points and the Spurs stayed perfect in the playoffs with a 120-111 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Tuesday.

The Spurs set a league 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 Los Angeles Lakers, who won 19 straight before losing to Philadelphia in the first game of the Finals.

San Antonio 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.

"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."

Parker made 16 of 21 shots and had eight assists.

"It was just one of those nights," he said. "I felt in a good rhythm from the start. I just tried to be aggressive.

"I had been in a hurry in Game 1, and my mindset was to slow down, make the easy pass and find the best shot."

Manu Ginobili added 20 points for the Spurs.

Game 3 is Thursday in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder went 26-7 during the regular season.

Ex-Sonic Kevin Durant had 31 points and James Harden rebounded from a rough Game 1 to score 30 for the Thunder, which has lost two consecutive games for the first time since early April. Oklahoma City dropped to 15-4 in games after losses this season, including playoffs.

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

Notes

• It was painful for the Boston Celtics to watch video of their 93-79 loss to Miami in Game 1 of the East finals. Game 2 is Wednesday in Miami.

The Heat had 19 layups or dunks in Game 1.

"There wasn't a lot of happy guys in our locker room yesterday or in film today when we start out by showing 19 straight layups," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Who wants to watch that? I didn't. I watched it four or five times."

• Vinny Del Negro will be back as coach of the Los Angeles Clippers after guiding them to the highest winning percentage (.606) in franchise history during the lockout-shortened season. The Clippers, 40-26 in the regular season, were swept by the Spurs in the second round of the playoffs.

Del Negro, 45, has a 72-76 record in two seasons with the Clippers.

• Ex-player Dennis Rodman, 51, was sentenced in Orange, Calif., to 104 hours of community service after being found guilty last year of four counts of contempt for failing to pay child support.

The ruling also placed Hall of Famer Rodman on three years of informal probation on the condition he keep up his child- and spousal-support payments.

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