The San Antonio Spurs were not going to believe Serge Ibaka was really injured until the Oklahoma City Thunder took the court in

SAN ANTONIO -- The San Antonio Spurs were not going to believe Serge Ibaka was really injured until the Oklahoma City Thunder took the court in the opener of the Western Conference finals without their athletic big man. Josh Bynes Jersey . Their skepticism was unwarranted. Ibaka is indeed injured and Oklahoma City needs to find a way to replace his defensive presence against San Antonio. Tim Duncan had 27 points and the Spurs took advantage of Ibakas absence to score more than half their points in the paint, beating the Thunder 122-105 Monday night in the opener of the best-of-seven series. Tony Parker did not appear limited by a hamstring injury, adding 14 points and 12 assists in 36 minutes in San Antonios first victory over Oklahoma City this season. Parker and coach Gregg Popovich both said earlier they werent sure if the Thunder would actually be without Ibaka, who injured his left calf in Oklahoma Citys series clincher against the Los Angeles Clippers. "Contrary to what San Antonio was thinking, hes not coming back," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. Thats bad news for Oklahoma City entering Game 2 on Wednesday. San Antonio had 66 points in the paint and shot 58 per cent from the field. It was the highest shooting percentage allowed by the Thunder in the post-season since relocating from Seattle. The Thunder got their usual offensive output from All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who scored 28 and 25 points, respectively. But Oklahoma Citys remaining starters, Nick Collison, Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins, combined to score five points with 13 rebounds and one assist. Collison started in place of Ibaka and was 0 for 3 from the field with three rebounds and one blocked shot. Ibaka was averaging 12.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.23 blocks in 33.9 minutes in the post-season. "We play team defence, we dont just rely on Serge," Durant said. "He does a great job of blocking shots, but its all because of our team defence. Hes a big part of what we do. Hes a starter, had his best season this year, so of course were going to miss his presence, but we have guys that are going to step up and do it collectively." San Antonio planned to attack Oklahoma Citys interior whether Ibaka was playing or not, and found it much easier to do without the athletic 6-foot-10 forward. "We always want to try to penetrate," Parker said. "We always want our ball movement, thats how we play -- kick and pitch and stuff like that. You know, obviously its a little bit better with (Ibaka) not being in the paint, but were still going to try to penetrate and make stuff happen." The Spurs fed Duncan early and the veteran responded by scoring 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the opening quarter. Parker, who sustained a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in San Antonios series clincher against Portland, drove the paint and dished to Duncan early before looking for his own shot midway through the quarter. "Thats part of our game plan," Duncan said. "He knew that they werent going to let him shoot the ball like he did in the last series. They were going to try to take that away from him, so he knew he was going to have to be an assist man." Parker scored all but two of his points in the first half. Manu Ginobili took over in the second half, scoring all 18 of his points with a series of breakneck drives and 3-for-4 shooting on 3-pointers. "Just got to do a better job of closing the paint off," Westbrook said. "I thought we did a better job in the second half of just putting more pressure on them, making it tough for them to get inside the paint." After starting Collison and bringing in 7-foot post Steven Adams to spell him and Perkins, Oklahoma City continually altered its lineup in an attempt to derail San Antonios attack. At one point the Thunder had Westbrook and fellow point guards Reggie Jackson and Derek Fisher on the court with Durant playing the post defensively. Duncan responded by dropping in a running hook on Durant. "Were going to have to find lineups that work," Brooks said. "I have faith in all of our guys to step in and do the job, no matter who we put on the floor." With the exception of a pair of free throws by Fisher, Westbrook and Durant scored all of Oklahoma Citys points in a 23-22 third quarter. The Thunder rallied to take a 76-75 lead on Westbrooks 17-foot jumper with 5 minutes left in the third quarter for their first lead since the opening basket of the game. "I think we need more from everybody defensively," Brooks said. "We scored 105 points. ... We scored enough points to win a basketball game. We have to do a better job defensively." San Antonio improved to 7-1 at home in the playoffs, winning its past five games by an average of 20.6 points. The Spurs, however, remember what happened in the 2012 conference finals, when the Thunder won four straight to rally from an 0-2 deficit. "Theyre a talented team," Ginobili said. "Theyre going to watch video; theyre going to fix mistakes. Its going to be harder for sure. Its just one down." NOTES: Durant was assessed a technical foul 30 seconds into the fourth quarter after throwing his fists down in frustration after being assessed a foul. . Boris Diaw was poked in his lower right eyelid early in the game, but returned to shortly thereafter once it was determined there was no structural damage. . Play had to be stopped twice to clean up blood on Collison, who was battling Duncan and Splitter defensively. Josh Bynes Cardinals Jersey . “Im not sure well get Melky Cabrera at all,” said Gibbons. The 29-year-old left fielder struggled all season with knee and hamstring problems. Cabrera was first on the disabled list from June 27-July 20 with tendinitis in his left knee. Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . Still, Inter moved one point ahead of Parma in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League spot. Udinese remained 14th, 11 points above the relegation zone. Inter was beaten 2-1 by Atalanta at home on Sunday and has won only seven of 16 matches at the San Siro this season, as the squad seems to still be searching for its identity under new owner Erick Thohir and first-year manager Walter Mazzarri. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/josh-rosen-cardinals-jersey-55/ . Or take a relaxing vacation somewhere warm. Brayden Schenn and Scott Hartnell scored, Ray Emery stopped 32 shots and the Flyers beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.WINNIPEG -- Ales Hemsky admitted he was feeling down after being traded to Ottawa from Edmonton last Wednesday. But his mood picked up after he had three assists in the struggling Senators 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon. "Its weird," said Hemsky, whos in his 11th NHL season. "You spend your whole career in one place and then you kind of realize youve come to the end. Its sad because I had a lot of great people there, even the locker-room was great and everybody treated me really well. "I was sad, but in the end I was excited to come here and play those type of games and battle for the playoffs." It was Hemskys second game and first points with Ottawa since he was traded and slotted on to the Senators top line. Milan Michalek scored the games first goal on the power play with an assist from Hemsky and centre Jason Spezza, who had three assists. "Hes an extremely offensively talented player," Spezza said of Hemsky. "I seem like I can read off him fairly easily. Ive watched him play a lot. Hes really good with the puck, hes got that short stick, protects it really well and is a good passer." Defencemen Jared Cowen and Eric Gryba and centres Kyle Turris and Mike Hoffman also scored for Ottawa (28-25-11), which had lost two straight and four of its past five games heading into the match. Craig Anderson stopped 46 shots for the Senators. Spezza said the players arent satisfied splitting their four-game road trip with a win over Vancouver, losses to Edmonton and Calgary and then the victory in Winnipeg. "Its nice to get the win tonight and get two points and get moving in the right direction again, but no, were not happy with .500 out of this trip," Spezza said. "Were fighting for the playoffs. We needed more points than that." Ottawa was six points out of a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference before the game. Turriss goal was his 21st of season, while it was Hoffmans first career goal and assist. Michalek picked up two assists. Jets centre Bryan Little earned his 20th goal of the season. Tobias Enstrom and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for Winnipeg (30-28-7). Ondrej Pavelec started in goal for the Jets, but was replaced in the second period by Al Montoya after giving up five goals on 20 shots. Montoya stopped all 12 shots he faced. The Jets have lost three straight, including overtime against the New York Islanders and in regulation versus Los Angeles. Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice wasnt hanging the loss on Pavelec. "I know he didnt have a chance on the fiirst three (goals)," Maurice said. Sam Bradford Cardinals Jersey. "The fourth is a play thats going behind the net and its a laser. If he gets that one, its as much luck as it is positioning on that one. "Ive got no problem with him. I didnt take him out to do anything other than calm the bench. He had seen enough." Winnipeg went into the game three points back of Dallas for the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference and one point behind Phoenix, which visits Washington Saturday night. The Senators led 2-1 after the first period and 5-2 following the second. Each team scored a pair of power-play goals. "Anytime youre a team thats going through what were going through at this point, when you have the lead, no lead is safe until the game is over," Ottawa head coach Paul MacLean said. "I think that was the case with us tonight. I thought they came with a push a but at the end of the day I thought our goaltender held the fort for us really well." Michalek scored his 11th goal of the season at 9:54 of the opening period with a deflection off a Jets defender just 20 seconds after defenceman Zach Bogosian went to the penalty box for holding. The goal was reviewed to see if the puck had fully crossed the line behind Pavelec. Little got his stick on a rebound and sent a backhand shot over a stretched-out Anderson at 16:59 with Senators winger Chris Neil off for interference. But the tie was short-lived as Cowens goal came 38 seconds later off a shot from the point. Winnipeg had a two-man advantage for 70 seconds in the period, but couldnt capitalize. Gryba scored 2:03 into the second period during a play that had Jets defenceman Mark Stuart sliding into Pavelec, sending him rolling at the side of the net. Winnipeg regrouped and Evander Kane won a faceoff and sent it back to Enstrom, who blasted a shot past Anderson at 4:15 while Ottawas Cowen was off for slashing. Turris and then Hoffman scored to make it 5-2 and Pavelec went to the bench. Byfuglien scored unassisted with a slapshot 2:13 into the third period for his 14th goal of the season. He said the team has got move on from the loss. "Couple of tough bounces," Byfuglien said. "Pavs been doing everything to keep us in every game." Ottawa was 2 for 4 on the power play and the Jets were 2 for 7. Winnipeg travels to Colorado for a game Monday and then hosts Vancouver on Wednesday. The Senators host Nashville on Monday. Notes: The Jets are now 11-5-2 since head coach Paul Maurice took over on Jan. 12 ... Jason Spezza now has 11 points (2G, 9A) over the last eight games. 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