The San Antonio Spurs got some much-needed leg room in the Western Conference standings after they eked out a hard-earned 103-99 win at home against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. With the win, the Spurs managed to improve their record to 44-32, which is good for fourth in the conference. They also tied their series this regular season with the Thunder, 2-2.

LaMarcus Aldridge had a notable performance opposite the Thunder. The Spurs big man unloaded 25 points, knocking down nine of his 19 shot attempts from the field, while also grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking two OKC shots. While Aldridge was an obvious choice for player of the game honors, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich sounded as though he was smitten more with the performance of another San Antonio player – sophomore guard Dejounte Murray.

Murray scored just seven points, but it was his fantastic work on the defensive end of the court that earned a huge praise from Gregg Popovich, per NBA writer, Paul Garcia.

While Murray did not hit double digits in scoring, the former Washington Huskies court general played a huge role in crippling the Thunder’s offense with his alertness on defense, as noticed by Royce Young of ESPN.

Apart from the seven points he chipped in, Murray finished the Thunder game with seven assists, eight rebounds, five steals, and a block in 30 minutes of work.

The Spurs are no longer largely dependent on Tony Parker at the point guard position, and it seems that Popovich is doing an excellent job of grooming Murray as the team’s point guard of the future.