SAN ANTONIO — Russell Westbrook smiled as he walked off the court in San Antonio, blowing a kiss to a spectator and waving at the few Oklahoma City Thunder fans in attendance.
The joyful tidings were a drastic change from the scowling, screaming, chest-thumping passion Westbrook showed after essentially walking into the Spurs’ home on Christmas and kicking aside their presents.
Westbrook had 34 points and 11 assists, and ignited a decisive run in the fourth quarter to help Oklahoma City beat San Antonio 114-106 on Thursday in a fiery rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals.
“Regardless of what’s going on, like I said before and I’m going to keep saying it, my job is to attack,” Westbrook said.
He led the Thunder to their sixth straight regular-season victory over the defending NBA champions in the first meeting between the teams since San Antonio topped Oklahoma City in six games on the way to a fifth title.
The Thunder were without reigning MVP Kevin Durant, and the Spurs were missing Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, but there was still plenty of firepower thanks to Oklahoma City’s emotional point guard.
Westbrook was 14 for 28 from the field and had five rebounds and five steals in a fevered performance over 35 minutes.
“You’ve just got to rally behind him,” said Thunder guard Anthony Morrow, who had 15 points. “He’s a leader, natural born. He comes out there, he plays hard.”
Serge Ibaka had 21 points, including going 3 for 4 on 3-pointers for Oklahoma City (14-16). Steven Adams added 16 points and 15 rebounds to offset San Antonio center Tiago Splitter matching his season-high with 14 points.
It was a physical rematch between the rivals, with referees having to separate Kendrick Perkins and Manu Ginobili in the first half, and Westbrook and Cory Joseph in the second.
“I thought they outplayed us almost in every facet of the game,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “When somebody retrieves 50 percent of their shots, you can’t say you’re focused or playing competitive in any way, shape or form.
“When you add turnovers to that and missed assignments defensively, it’s a pitiful performance.”
Matt Bonner had 17 points to lead seven players in double figures for San Antonio (18-12), which has lost five of six.
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