Everyone in the NBA will tell you the playoffs are a totally different animal than the regular season. The Spurs can attest to that.
They lost at home just once in 41 regular-season games, but after Tuesday's 95-91 loss to the Thunder, the Spurs have twice dropped playoff games at the AT&T Center.
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Trailing 92-91 with nine seconds remaining, the Spurs attempted to foul Thunder guard Russell Westbrook to send him to the free-throw line in hopes of keeping the margin to three at the most. They did foul, but not before Westbrook hit a layup that gave his team a chance at a three-point play. LaMarcus Aldridge was called for the shooting foul that came after Kawhi Leonard appeared to foul Westbrook prior to the shot.
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"(Leonard) fouled him. It was pretty obvious that he fouled him," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "But every call doesn’t get called. That’s the way it is."
Missed call or not, the Spurs head to back to Oklahoma City down 3-2, one loss from starting their vacation prior to the conference finals for the second year in a row.
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History says the Spurs are in trouble; Popovich is 2-10 when facing elimination on the road in the playoffs.
Tweet of the Night
Leonard put up 26 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists and threw down this dunk in the fourth quarter.
OH MY! KAWHI! #NBAVine #SPURSvTHUNDER https://t.co/6vEnQLxQUn
— NBA (@NBA) May 11, 2016
Stud of the night
Westbrook took the lead role for the Thunder in San Antonio, putting up 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the victory.
Dud of the Night
After back-to-back big performances in games 3 and 4, Tony Parker took a step back in Game 5, going just 4 of 12 from the floor and finishing with nine points.
Looking ahead
Heat at Raptors, Game 5, 8 p.m. ET, TNT (Series tied 2-2): The Raptors return to Toronto after not being able to seize the moment in Miami. They squandered a chance to take a 3-1 series lead Monday.
Trail Blazers at Warriors, Game 5, 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT (Golden State leads 3-1): The Warriors can advance to the Western Conference finals with a win on Wednesday, the same night Stephen Curry will be presented with his second consecutive MVP award.