In January, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich made the huge decision to move Tony Parker to the bench and insert Dejounte Murray as the starting point guard.Parker was happy to accept his new role as he knew the time would come eventually as his illustrious career winds down.For the most part, Popovich's choice has been the correct one as Murray has shown real improvement during his time in the starting lineup.According to Pop, his display against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night was a defining moment for him.As the Spurs secured a vital 103-99 win at home to put themselves one step closer to the playoffs, the championship-winning coach singled out Murray for praise.“This was Dejounte’s best game as a pro,” he said, per NBA writer Paul Garcia.When viewing the box score, the 21-year-old's scoring numbers don't jump out at you but his impact on the game as a whole was huge.He finished the game with just seven points but he stuffed the rest of the stat sheet with eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals.The youngster was fantastic on the defensive end and disrupted the Thunder offence throughout the game with his quick hands, as noticed by ESPN's Royce Young and Zach Lowe.

Earlier in the season, Popovich stated that Murray will be "really dangerous" once he improves on all the aspects of his game and it's clear that he's now becoming more impactful on the court.

They needed his length and awareness to guard the likes of Russell Westbrook and Paul George last night and he did a remarkable job.

As a team, the Spurs engaged defensively all night and needed to be to beat a potent Thunder team.

"As I've said all along, the defense is what we have to be good at because we're going to have nights where our scoring isn't great," Popovich said, per ESPN.

San Antonio were also grateful to have LaMarcus Aldridge in the lineup after he suffered a knee injury in their last outing against the Washington Wizards.

Despite the knee problem, the power forward played through it and posted a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds.

"Playing without (Aldridge) at this level is almost like handing a win," San Antonio veteran Manu Ginobili said.

"He's become so important and we depend on him so much that it could have been almost impossible. Great to see him compete like that and fight through the pain and have a great game."

The win now moves the Texas-based outfit above OKC into fourth in the west with just six games remaining.

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