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Parker: Now it's our job to react

Even though the momentum went to the Thunder's side, it shouldn't really influence a team as experienced as the Spurs who definitely detected the mistakes made on Monday

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How much of a difference a few days can make in sports is obvious from this series. San Antonio Spurs started it furiously and made it seem like they could send a few spies to Oakland to check on Steph Curry's knee, but then Durantula and his company showed they're not there to let them have it easy. After being crushed down by 32 in the first game, the Oklahoma City Thunder played much tougher on Monday, better and more aggressive. That brought a reward of winning 98-97, and gave them the home court advantage at least for a little bit.

- We have to come into the game like we're down 0-2. We know that's how they're going to approach the game. We know they're going to come in and do what they do. We have to match their intensity. We're just trying to get better every day leading up to Game 3. We know it's important to take care of home court advantage. We have to come in with the mindset of coming in to win and compete, play hard as possible and play smart - Dion Waiters pointed out.

What's new compared to the defensively disastrous first game is that the Thunder set Andre Robertson against Tony Parker, disrupting the Spurs' offense a little bit, but they key is that they replaced the offensive passivity with activity, and the fact that the Texas machinery started the game with a few unusual misses definitely helped. When you shoot absolutely everything a few days before, then this comes as a shock, and that's exactly what happened to the Spurs who were losing 19-6.

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- I thought we did a good job from the beginning making it tough. That first [Spurs] basket didn't go in, and that was a step in the right direction for us after what happened last game. We just try to make every basket tough - Durant said after hitting 28 points (11/19) on Monday, huge difference from the first game that he finished with 16 points (6/15).

It's definitely not something they prefer, teams like the Spurs are this season, to try to catch up with that big of an advantage, because speeding the game means Thunder have more chances of transitions, something that the coach Gregg Popovich wants to keep to a minimum. Another problem is that the OKC guys got their confidence back, so then the Spurs evened out, they didn't start panicking. Durant and Russell Westbrook (29 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 11/25 shots) were ready, and Waiters finally made a positive impact by hitting for 96-91 lead two and a half minutes before the buzzer. LaMarcus Aldridge basically kept the Spurs in till the end himself, but the Thunder got their first win in the series, despite the controversy.

- It feels horrible. Feels like it was wasted. I've never been trying to get points and not win, I always try to do things to win. If you win, it's a totally different feeling, but losing like that hurts - Aldridge said. His average in the first two games was 39.5 points with the crazy 75.0 shots from the game.

After the game, what was talked about the most was the game finish. Thunder were a point up 13 seconds before the buzzer, and Dion Waiters elbowed Manu Ginobili to get the space needed to inbound the ball. If the referees saw that, it would've meant two free throws for the Spurs who got possession anyway, but they didn't manage to make the 3-1 counter attack successful, so they can't really blame the rest of the world.

- I don't know what it is, to tell you the truth, what type of violation it is. It's got to be something. But again, it's not that play that decided anything. We got the steal, we got the shot, we got an offensive rebound - Ginobili described it all.

After hitting 60.7% shots from the floor on Saturday (and it seemed like they didn't miss either), the Spurs were limited to 42.6% shots in the second game, partly thanks to a more mobile Thunder defense, partly because of the law of numbers, and averages. It definitely won't be easy in OKC, confirmed by the statistic that they've lost 11 of the last 13 road games against the Thunder.

- They played great. It's a great win for them and now it's our job to react. Everybody understands to win a championship you have to win on the road. That's our job now - Tony Parker said after hitting only nine points with 4/12 from the floor in the first two games.