to 2-1. No longer was th

OKLAHOMA CITY -- As Manu Ginobili was finishing up his answer to a reporters question, Tony Parker walked up behind him, put both hands on his shoulders and provided his teammate an escape. Donald Butler . "Great job, Manu," Parker said, having heard hardly a word of Ginobilis five-minute, question-and-answer session. After losing for the first time since mid-April, it was time for the San Antonio Spurs to face an entirely different set of questions Friday with their Western Conference finals lead over Oklahoma City cut to 2-1. No longer was the talk about whether the Spurs -- riding a 20-game winning streak less than 24 hours earlier -- were invincible. It was about how San Antonio could regroup following a 102-82 blowout loss in time to face Game 4 in Oklahoma City on Saturday night. "Usually its easier to refocus after a loss than after a win. Players usually have a tendency after winning a few games to relax or feel complacent. In the past, weve reacted really well to wins. Well see now how we do against losses," said Ginobili, held to eight points in Game 3 after totalling 46 through the first two games. "Even if we react well, its a tough place to win and they are a great team." The Thunder limited the output of San Antonios best backcourt players by deploying 6-foot-7 Thabo Sefolosha to use his five-inch height advantage and wingspan to corral Parker, and by changing up their defence on the Spurs pick-and-roll attack. Oklahoma City players who had been guarding the ball frequently switched to defend the screener, and vice versa. After scoring a post-season-best 120 points in Game 2 and averaging 109.4 during the winning streak, San Antonio was held to a season-low 82 points in Game 3. "Theyre doing a lot of switching. Theyre doing a lot of those, so theyre ending up with a lot of different guys on a lot of different guys," Spurs star Tim Duncan said. "Were going to have to take advantage of that. Weve got to use the mismatches that we get from that, and Tony and Manu will be expecting those kind of switches and understand that they have to attack it a different way. "Their length and their size and their athleticism is a huge advantage for them, so were going to have to move their bodies and move the ball and use our passing to kind of neutralize that a little bit." Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks refused to pinpoint any of his adjustments as the difference-maker in what could be a momentum-changing win. He put more emphasis on his players giving maximum effort and executing all of the defensive plans. The changes bore some similarities to the previous round, when he used Sefolosha, James Harden and even the nearly 7-foot Kevin Durant to mix up his defence on Kobe Bryant. Sefolosha made a big splash early in Game 3, recording four steals in the first 3 minutes, and finished with 19 points and six steals -- both the best of his career. "Its always good to have everybody taking cracks at the good players," Brooks said. "You cant have one guy on a great player to give him the same coverage. Theyre going to tear that apart. ... Ginobili and Parker are the best penetrating decision-makers in the league and they do it where you dont think that they have opportunities to score or to pass, and they make those passes every time." The changes got the Spurs out of that free-flowing offensive game, and Ginobili and Parker both suggested that San Antonio ended up playing too much one-on-one and without enough aggression. "There are some ways to try to make them pay a little bit more, so hopefully we find them and we have a clearer mind to read the situations better," Ginobili said. As San Antonios streak kept growing -- eventually becoming the longest ever to carry over into the playoffs -- players frequently said it wasnt their focus. But now that its over, theyd prefer if it was still going on. "Everybody wants to win every game. Thats what you try to do: You try to win," coach Gregg Popovich said. "They played great and they had a lot to do with us playing poorly, but nobody wants to lose a game in the playoffs. You try to win every game." Popovich said he thought Oklahoma City had played as though their season was on the line in Game 3. Durant said the Thunder "knew what was at stake, but we werent desperate." "We just played harder," the three-time NBA scoring champion said. "We were there for each other, we covered for each other on the pick-and-roll. ... We didnt really make a huge adjustment." The Thunder still face the task of winning three out of the next four against a team that hadnt lost since April 11. "Theyre a great team. They won 20 games (in a row). Theyre not going to push the panic button after one loss," Brooks said. With a win Saturday night, the Spurs would put Oklahoma City in a 3-1 hole that only eight teams in NBA history have overcome. "In every sport in every country of the world, when you win everything is great and you were almost perfect. When you lose, you start hearing critics," Ginobili said. "Its how the world is run and how it works. We knew and Pop was adamant in showing us that we were making mistakes, even when we were winning. But losing can happen." Keenan Allen . NHL hockey is returning to the Manitoba capital. The True North Sports and Entertainment group announced on Tuesday that they have completed a deal to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers and move them to Winnipeg in time for the 2011-12 season. Johnnie Troutman Authentic Jersey . -- Reginas Mark McMorris is taking home a silver medal and a fractured rib from Saturdays slopestyle event at the Winter X Games.SAUCIER, Miss. -- Billy Andrade hasnt played much competitive golf over the past four years. It was hard to tell on Saturday. The 50-year-old Andrade had the low round of the day, firing a 7-under 65 to jump into a tie for the lead with Fred Funk after the second round of the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic at Fallen Oak. Andrade made nine birdies on Saturday, including a stretch of six over seven holes midway through the round. The exclamation point came on the final hole, when he drained a 20-foot putt for birdie. Its the second time in less than a year that Andrade has been in contention to win a tournament in the Magnolia State. He finished fifth at the Sanderson Farms Classic in Madison, Miss., last summer, which was easily his best finish in three starts on the PGA Tour last year. "I have no idea what it is about Mississippi," Andrade said laughing. "But right now, I absolutely love it." Andrade is playing in just his fourth Champions Tour event. His best finish was eighth place at the ACE Group Classic in February. Fred Couples started the day with a two-stroke lead, but fell into a tie for second place after shooting a 71. Jay Haas and Jeff Maggert both had 69 to join Couples one stroke behind the leaders. Andrade has been mostly on the sidelines the past four years, working part time as an analyst for the Golf Channel. Hes started just eight tournaments on the PGA Tour since 2010 and said its been nice to play several events in a row on the Champions Tour since he turned 50 to reggain some consistency. Donald Brown Authentic Jersey. "It was kind of a swirly, windy day," Andrade said. "We didnt know if the wind was helping us or hurting us on some holes. But I got off to a nice start with a birdie on the first hole and then got into a nice rhythm." Andrade and Funk are at 8-under 136 for the tournament. Funk shot a 67 on Saturday. "I like coming here because its a pretty difficult golf course and I like hard golf courses," Funk said. "When youre playing well, you try to get a little separation, although were not too separated on the board right now." There are 11 players within three shots of the lead. Couples had a good start on Saturday, going 2-under through his first six holes. But he had 11 pars and a bogey the rest of the way to finish at 71, which snapped his streak of 12 straight rounds on the Champions Tour in the 60s. The streak was one shy of Hale Irwins record set in 1999. "It was just a little sloppy," Couples said. "I didnt make a birdie on the back nine, so thats a lot of holes without making a birdie." David Frost was disqualified Saturday after removing a stone in a bunker on Friday, which should have resulted in a two-stroke penalty. A Champions Tour official said Frost self-reported the violation after Saturdays round. Frost was tied for sixth place at 6-under before his disqualification. Because of expected rain, the tee times have been moved earlier for Sundays final round. The leaders are scheduled to tee off at 10 a.m. CT. ' ' '