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. Aaron Donald 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. Austin Blythe Jersey . With the final four being arguably the four best – and most complete – teams from the regular season, picking a winner is not as easy as it sounds. John Kelly Jersey .J. -- Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch deservedly draw the attention for what theyve done in getting the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl. http://www.cheapramsjerseysonline.com/?tag=andrew-whitworth-jersey-online .C. -- The Edmonton Oilers used a late-power-play goal to get a hard-fought road victory.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, I was watching the NBC coverage of Sundays Canadiens-Rangers game, and Mike Milbury and Ed Olczyk went off on the Canadiens for over-selling and embellishing to sell calls. In the third period, Carl Hagelin hit Alexei Emelin with a high stick and Emelin went down like a ton of bricks. Embellishment? Probably, but it didnt change the fact that it was a high stick. Did the sell by Emelin negate the high stick and the official basically said, "play on?" Or was this just a missed call? Morgan,New York, NY Morgan: I believe the play that you are referring to occurred with 8:24 remaining in the third period and the score tied at two. Carl Hagelin attempted a dump-in shot from the centre red line. Alexei Emelin lowered his posture to execute an active stick sweep check and contacted the puck as Hegelin was in the act of shooting. Emelin was legitimately struck in the mouth area with the blade of Haglins stick on the follow-through of an attempted shot. Emelins reaction to rotate his body away from the stick contact, then fall and grab his mouth was reasonable and not an effort to embellish and draw a foul. A player is permitted accidental contact on an opponent if committed in a normal windup or follow through of a shooting motion. No penalty was warranted to Hagelin on this play. I concur with Mike Milbury and Eddie Os analysis with regard to obvious embellishment committed by PK Subban and Tomas Plekanec in the second period of Sunday nights game. Even though the stick of Rick Nash did catch Subban in the face the upward launch with both legs was not a natural reaction or fall from being struck in that manner. Plekanecs theatrical performance was the absolute worst when he threw his head back and grabbed at his face after the flat blade of Brian Boyles stick slapped nothing but shoulder pad! Even though Boyles stick did not quite fit the criteria of a "high stick (above the height of the opponents shoulders) it was used in a careless manner and could certainly result in a slashing pennalty. Wholesale Los Angeles Rams Jerseys. Plekanecs embellishment was also worthy of a penalty that should have resulted in an on-ice numerical strength of four aside. Given Plekanecs blatant overreaction it could even been deemed a stand alone embellishment penalty if the ref wanted to send a clear message but I doubt he would receive much support. Power plays and special teams can often be the difference in these games as we have seen. Once the referees are fooled into calling a penalty or fail to respond to efforts of embellishment on a play the floodgates can open up without so much as a splash on the frozen pond. In the first round of these current playoffs there were six diving/embellishment penalties assessed. None were a stand alone diving penalty but deemed to be embellishment that was committed following the initial infraction. The first two embellishment penalties were assessed in Game 2 against Mats Zuccarello and Derek Dorsett of the Rangers in their 4-2 loss to the Flyers. The Rangers management was not impressed with those penalty calls and expressed their displeasure to the series supervisor. I wonder if the Ranger brass is singing the same tune after Sunday night. Since joining TSN in January of 2011 I have stated on numerous occasions the need to clean up the unmanly act of diving. When uncalled, embellishment rewards cheaters. I am often asked how the ref can call both an initial penalty and a dive; isnt it one or the other? In reality, embellishment is most often committed after a player has been legitimately fouled. When that occurs both illegal acts should be penalized. Three years ago I suggested that a double minor penalty be assessed to the diver when he was legitimately fouled and the referee was calling a minor penalty. It would take some guts for the refs to impose a strict standard on a call like this but the game would be better for it. The referees also have to know their calls would receive the full support of management. Until players that embellish are penalized by the referees and held accountable by the League with published fines and suspensions as prescribed in rule 64.3, this illegal act will continue to plague the game. Its time for everyone involved to man-up. 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