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The Thunder put together another 9-0 run coinciding with Manu Ginobili coming out of the game, and featuring Serge Ibaka sticking his tongue out after nailing a jumper from the top of the key. Brooks soon followed suit and pulled his own front-line players with the game well in hand.
A day earlier, Brooks had called out his players during a team meeting for not giving their all -- specifically failing to make extra efforts to close out on San Antonio's 3-point shooters.
"We knew what we had to do. We were not going to lay down and roll over just because we're down 0-2," Durant said. "We're going to keep fighting. The coaches said we just needed to play harder.
"I can't keep emphasizing enough that we just played harder on both ends of the floor."
After Game 3, Brooks said he would "be shocked if there's possessions we didn't play hard" when he goes back over the video of the game.
Popovich couldn't say the same, assessing that "I think they played smarter than we did and I think they played harder than we did."
"They did definitely play with a lot more energy, a lot more passion than us tonight," said Parker, who committed five turnovers.
Oklahoma City outscored San Antonio 28-8 in the paint while building a 54-41 halftime lead, then never let the Spurs get closer than 11 in the second half. San Antonio had averaged 46 points in the paint while winning Games 1 and 2, and 47.8 during the playoffs before being held to 24 in Game 3.
"We wanted to bounce back after two losses like that. We had to play better and we did that tonight," Sefolosha said. "We played with energy, we played with passion in front of our home crowd. They did a great job giving us a lift."
Sefolosha set up Ibaka's two-handed dunk and hit a 3-pointer during a 13-1 run early in the second quarter that gave Oklahoma City the lead for good, with San Antonio's only point coming on a free throw by Ginobili after Durant was called for a technical foul while arguing a call from the bench.
"We just played a good basketball game," Brooks said. "We played with a lot of force, we played with good energy, but we played defensive-minded basketball.
"That's who we are. That's how we win."
NOTES: Duncan did have five blocks to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA playoff record of 476 by one. ... Rapper Lil Wayne tweeted before the game that he planned to attend but "was denied by the team to be in their arena." Thunder spokesman Dan Mahoney said the rapper's representatives demanded front-row seats but none were available. "We'd love to have him at a game, but like anyone else, he needs a ticket," Mahoney said. ... Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin presented TNT analyst and former NBA All-Star Charles Barkley with a pair of boots, a steak and an order of lamb fries -- a dish that leaves out the otherwise undesirable part of the anatomy out of its name -- during the pregame show.
[Associated Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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