OKLAHOMA CITY -- Forward Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 113-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Spurs (52-26) stretched their winning streak to eight games and now trail the idle Houston Rockets by only a game and half for second place in the Western Conference and the lead in the Southwest Division.

The Thunder (42-36) have lost four straight games and six of their last seven. They are now two games behind the New Orleans Pelicans in the loss column for eighth in the West with only four games left in the regular season.

Guard Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting. He also had six steals and four turnovers in 26 minutes of action. Guard Dion Waiters added 10 points and five assists. Center Enes Kanter scored nine points and was held to five rebounds.

Forward Tim Duncan posted 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots for the Spurs. Guard Marco Belinelli came off the bench to add 12 points.

San Antonio was on its game from the opening whistle. Smelling blood in the water, they attacked the injury riddled Oklahoma City squad from every spot on the floor and the Thunder couldn't do anything to stop them.

Led by Leonard, the Spurs grabbed a 29-10 first quarter advantage. At one point, they had scored more points off turnovers than the Thunder had total points.

After the Spurs pushed its lead to 25 points, the Thunder finally showed some life and went on an 11-0 run. They cut the lead to 14 and for a brief moment looked like they had San Antonio rattled.

But the Spurs responded by making tough shot after tough shot. Whenever it looked like Oklahoma City was going to cut the deficit to single digits, forward Danny Green or forward Boris Diaw knocked down a difficult jumper with a defender in their face.

But it was Leonard who the Thunder had no answer for. His 23 first-half points was only five off the most individual points the team has given up in the first half all year.

San Antonio didn't let up in the third and kept racking up points. Even with guard Tony Parker on the bench with a tight right Achilles, their lead grew to 34 points.

Midway through the third quarter, Westbrook went to the bench and didn't return. The rest of the starters soon followed.

The Spurs shot 52 from the field and outrebounded the Thunder 46-39.

NOTES: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said F Kawhi Leonard is as good as he is going to get. "There is no ceiling," Popovich said. "He is what he is. He's not going to get any better. The reason I say that is because he was doing this when he was in Europe. He's not Kevin Durant or James Harden. He's a blue-collar guy who basically has a big heart, plays defense and rebounds." ... Despite having lost several encounters with the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks marveled at their ability to just win games no matter what they go through each season. "Death, taxes and San Antonio winning 50 games," Brooks said. "Those are three things you can guarantee are going to happen." ... Popovich on why he doesn't like to do in-game interviews. "I think it's an unnecessary activity that we're doing because it takes away from our jobs. I don't see the sense of taking away from our team when we're supposed to be doing something defensively or offensively at the end of a quarter. So, since we still have to do it, I try to have fun with it. I think people get a kick out of it." ... On a day off from trying to carry the Oklahoma City Thunder into the NBA playoffs, G Russell Westbrook used the time to present 19-year-old Kerstin Gonzalez with the Kia SUV he was given when he won the Most Valuable Player award at the 2015 All-Star Game in New York City. Gonzalez is a single mother of two in Oklahoma City. "There were definitely tears of joy and I could tell som