SAN ANTONIO -- If all anyone expected was a dual in the Alamo City between two of the NBA's erstwhile MVP candidates, San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, they might have been disappointed by the way the Spurs' 108-94 win over the Thunder on Tuesday at the AT&T Center played out.

Yes, Leonard (36 points and eight rebounds) and Westbrook (27 points and 14 assists) both led their respective teams in scoring and were spectacular in their own ways.

But it was the Spurs' bench that proved to be the difference, helping to turn the tide at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarters after San Antonio (37-11) squandered an 18-point lead over a horrid seven-minute stretch. The Spurs' reserves responded by outscoring Oklahoma City 15-2 and, once the starters returned the Thunder had no answer.

Overall, the Spurs' bench racked up 32 points to 22 for Oklahoma City's reserves, with most of that damage coming in the pivotal stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters.

Leonard scored 30 or more points for the 15th time this season while LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 points and was the only other San Antonio player in double-figure scoring.

"We're fired up just playing against Russ out there, just out there competing every possession," Leonard said. "The way he's been playing has been ridiculous, so you definitely want to rise up to the challenge. We lost two games in a row so we were fired up off that just thinking about ourselves."

Westbrook, who is the only player in the NBA averaging a triple-double, had just six rebounds; he has still has never had a triple-double against San Antonio.

"Overall, we played more competitively for more of the 48 minutes than we have recently," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We played good defense in the first half and the fourth quarter, but it's still a 48-minute game. We have to figure that out."

Stephen Adams added 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Thunder (28-21). Victor Oladipo scored 15 points, Domantas Sabonis hit for 13 and pulled down 10 rebounds and Anthony Morrow tallied 11 points for Oklahoma City.

The Thunder had 20 turnovers that led to 24 points for San Antonio.

"In the third quarter, we took the lead but we needed more sustainability -- we did what we wanted to do, but we just didn't do it for long enough," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "There were some positive things we can take from this game but with our margin for error we can't have a lapse for a half or a bunch of turnovers that are difficult to overcome."

A 3-pointer by Patty Mills and a Leonard dunk after a Mills steal on the following possession staked the Spurs to a 27-17 lead with 1:28 to play in the first quarter. Manu Ginobili's 3-pointer after a defensive 3-seconds technical on the Thunder expanded the advantage to 31-17 at end of the period. Oklahoma City shot just 5 of 19 (26.3 percent) in the first quarter, was scoreless the final 2:49 of the period and went the final 3:43 without a field goal.

The Thunder's scoreless drought stretched 2:15 into the second quarter, but San Antonio was only able to stretch its lead to 33-17 in that swoon. A Westbrook 3-pointer at the 2:10 mark and then a Morrow three off a Westbrook assist cut the Spurs' lead to 48-40 and San Antonio took a 52-42 lead into intermission.

Leonard led all scorers with 17 points at the break while Aldridge had 10 for the Spurs.

Westbrook was just 3 of 7 from the floor in the first half but still led the Thunder with 13 points. San Antonio outshot Oklahoma City 39.1 percent to 30.8 percent in the first two quarters and forced 13 turnovers from the Thunder that led to 11 points.

The Spurs' focus early in the third quarter was to get shots for Aldridge and he responded by hitting nine of San Antonio's first 12 points in the period and expanding the lead to 64-46.

But Westbrook poured in back-to-back 3s to keep the Thunder within striking distance at 66-52 that was the impetus for a 23-4 run over a stretch of almost seven minutes that saw the game flip-flop in favor of Oklahoma City, turning an 18-point Spurs advantage into a 3-point lead for the Thunder.

"We defended -- we just played, man," Westbrook said. "It's physical and we made a tough run. We got ourselves an opportunity to come back."

A Mills 3-pointer followed by a 3-point play by Leonard in the final 30 seconds righted the ship for the Spurs and garnered them a 79-75 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

San Antonio's reserves kept the momentum going, outscoring the Thunder's bench players 9-2 in the first three-and-a-half minutes as the Spurs pushed their advantage to 88-77.

NOTES: Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti was a member of the Spurs' front office from 2000-07, ascending to assistant general manager. ... The Thunder (known then as the Seattle SuperSonics) were the first road team to score 100-plus points in the Alamodome when they defeated the Spurs 109-107 on Dec. 8, 1993. It was also the first overtime game in that building, San Antonio's former home. ... San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili became the all-time winningest trio in NBA playoff history with 111 wins after a 112-77 victory over the Thunder in Game 2 of the 2014 Western Conference Finals. ... The Spurs played without C Pau Gasol, who is out indefinitely with a fracture of his left fourth metacarpal. Oklahoma City C Enes Kanter (fractured right ulna) was also out of the game. ... Next up for San Antonio is a home game Thursday versus Philadelphia while the Thunder return home to face Chicago.