The superstar duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook was no match for the tandem of LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard.
Aldridge scored 38 points and Leonard added 25 on Saturday night as the hot-shooting San Antonio Spurs clobbered the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, 124-92, in Game 1 of their Western Conference semi-final series.
Danny Green made five three-pointers and scored 18 points for the second-seeded Spurs, who remained unbeaten in the playoffs and improved to 43-1 at home this season. San Antonio shot a blistering 69 percent (29-of-42) in the decisive first half and 61 per cent (51-of-84) overall.  
“We had a great night and they had one of their bad nights,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It happens to everybody in the NBA.”   
“I don’t want to say as a coach that I was disgusted with everything.  I really think in the first half that the momentum kept building,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “It was a multitude of things. Some of this stuff was self-induced on us, and I  also want to give San Antonio credit.”  
The Spurs tied a franchise playoff record with 43 points in the first quarter, held a 73-40 halftime lead and reached 100 points with two minutes remaining in the third period. Aldridge and Leonard both sat out the entire fourth quarter.  
Aldridge was unstoppable, making 18-of-23 shots. He scored 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting in the first half.  
“I thought my teammates did a really good job of finding me,” said Aldridge, signed as a free agent last summer. “I got us going tonight.”  
“The ball went in the basket a lot,” Popovich said. “I’m not trying to be flip, but that’s what happened. (Aldridge) made his shots. It’s been a steady improvement and recognition as the year went on.”  
Leonard made 10-of-13 shots, including 8-of-10 for 20 points before the break while using his Defensive Player of the Year skills to harass Westbrook.  
“He’s been great all year. Offensively, defensively of course,” Aldridge said. “He draws two guys every time going to the  basket. He found me out there. He’s a very unselfish guy. He takes what the game gives him.”  
Durant and Westbrook are both former scoring champions who finished in the top 10 in the NBA in scoring this season and averaged 26 points in third-seeded Oklahoma City’s first-round dispatching of Dallas. But both were held to playoff lows by the Spurs.  
Durant managed 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting, adding eight rebounds.  Westbrook had 14 points on 5-of-19 shooting with nine assists. In the first half, they combined to make just 8-of-27 shots.  
“We just tried to throw bodies at them and tried to clog the paint on them,” Aldridge said. “They had a long night tonight.”   
“I was able to get to my spots,” Westbrook said. “I just missed some layups.”  
Led by Aldridge and Leonard, San Antonio made 10 of its first 11 shots. Aldridge made 7-of-9 shots for 15 points while Leonard sank 6-of-6 for 12 points. The Spurs opened a 43-20 lead after one period, making 18-of-22 shots while tying a club playoff mark for points in any quarter.  
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City looked lost on both ends. In addition to poorly defending the pick-and-roll and repeatedly fouling three-point shooters, the Thunder made just 8-of-28 shots.  
“I thought we got in some situations where we fouled maybe four or five times (on) three-point shooters. That was a problem,” Donovan said. “We’ve gotta do a better job on LaMarcus. That was a challenge.”   
Green had a four-point play and a three-pointer to help extend the advantage to 53-24 early in the second quarter. Aldridge and Leonard scored San Antonio’s next 18 points before a bucket by Tim Duncan gave the Spurs a 73-40 halftime lead.  The Thunder got no closer than 28 points thereafter and trailed by as many as 43 points. They will try again in Game 2 on Monday.  
“It’s over with. Move on,” Durant said. “It’s not like we were upset, screaming at each other in the locker room after the game. That’s not gonna make things better. We’ve just gotta go out there and play better.”  
“French Flash” Tony Parker had 12 of San Antonio’s 39 assists, and the Spurs made 9-of-15 from the arc. Congo native Serge Ibaka scored 19 points for Oklahoma City, which shot 41 percent (35-of-85), including 6-of-23 from deep.