As the Thunder rolls into San Antonio for the final game of a three-game road trip tonight, coach Scott Brooks is certain the Spurs will have their 78-76 loss to the Thunder on March 16 in the back of their minds.
"They are going to play us tough, and I'm sure that they are going to talk about the game we had on our home floor beating them," Brooks said. San Antonio enters tonight's game with the second-best record in the Western Conference at 48-25. The Spurs won the first meeting in San Antonio, 109-104, on Dec. 14 and are 26-11 inside the AT&T Center.
"We're looking forward to just getting better," Brooks said. "Any time you are playing against the best teams in Basketball, you pick up things from them."
POINT GUARDS TORCH Thunder
Keep an eye on Spurs guard Tony Parker tonight. It was Parker on March 16 who started what has developed into a trend of opposing point guards having their way against the Thunder.
Parker had 28 points with seven assists in the Spurs' two-point loss to the Thunder inside the Ford Center, missing a potential game-winning 3-pointer in the closing seconds. Since then, Chicago's Derrick Rose scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half of a 103-96 Bulls win, Utah's Deron Williams scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half of a 101-94 win, Toronto's Jose Calderon and Roko Ukic combined for 19 assists in the Raptors' 112-96 win and Boston's Rajon Rondo had a game-high 12 assists Sunday.
"In this league, you play against a great point guard on any given night," Brooks said.
GREEN CALLS Celtics 'INSPIRATIONAL'
After playing against the Celtics in Boston for only the second time in his NBA career, forward Jeff Green walked out of TD Banknorth Garden moved by the history of the Celtics' franchise.
"It's inspirational," said Green, who was drafted by Boston on behalf of the Seattle SuperSonics as part of the Ray Allen trade. "It's where we want to get to. They've won championships, and that's what we want to do. It takes a lot of focus, and we have to play defense. This is our first season, and it's going to take some time. We have to be patient and continue to work hard to get to the point where the Celtics are at."
BRIEFLY
Brooks canceled the Thunder's scheduled practice Monday in Boston before the team flew to San Antonio. ... Forward D.J. White scored six points with one rebound, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot in 11 minutes in the Tulsa 66ers' 98-91 win over Bakersfield on Sunday night. ... It was his fourth game with Tulsa, which is 3-1 with White in the lineup. The 66ers are 13-32 overall. ... The Thunder enters tonight's game at San Antonio with a road record of 6-30. ... After missing the March 16 game against the Thunder because of an ankle injury, Manu Ginobili is expected to play tonight. ...The Spurs are 28-10 when their "big three" of Tim Duncan, Parker and Ginobili are in the lineup.
BY DARNELL MAYBERRY
