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Spurs, Thunder square off in OKC

Jan 8, 2012 - 3:48 PM (Sports Network) - The San Antonio Spurs have dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder in recent years, but that could change when the two Western Conference powers collide tonight in the Sooner State.

The Spurs have won six straight and 15 of the previous 19 meetings with the Thunder, and are unbeaten in the past four contests as the visitor in this series. Oklahoma City lost all three encounters with the Spurs a year ago and hope its improved play this season can alter the latest results.

Oklahoma City has the best record in the Western Conference at 7-2 and sits alone atop the Northwest Division. It has won two in a row since a two-game slide and completed a sweep of a home-and-home series with Houston thanks to a 98-95 victory last night. Thunder star Kevin Durant hit the game-winning jumper with 22 seconds left and scored 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. Russell Westbrook added 25 points, Nazr Mohammed had 17 and James Harden chipped in 16 points.

"Any give night somebody has to step up," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "But the thing that always has to be there is our effort and I very rarely ever complain about our effort and tonight that was the key part of our win."

Brooks' team will play its third game in as many nights Sunday and is scheduled to hit the road for two straight and five of six games following this evening's showdown with the Spurs.

San Antonio owns the top spot in the Southwest Division and is still searching for its first road win of the season (0-2). The last time the Spurs started a year with three straight losses as the guest was in 2009-10, when they opened the gates with an 0-4 road mark.

The Spurs have won all six games in the Alamo City so far and completed a flawless three-game homestand with last night's 121-117 victory over the Denver Nuggets at the AT&T Center. Danny Green led the way with a career-best 24 points and seven rebounds, and Richard Jefferson had 19 points in the win.

"He's been shooting the ball well," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Jefferson. "He's playing aggressively and he's got a lot of confidence. He's been a big part of winning ball games."

Tony Parker collected 19 points and six assists. The Spurs, who are without guard Manu Ginobili because of a broken bone in his hand, will also visit Milwaukee on Tuesday to close out a quick trek.