The Oklahoma City Thunder got an MVP-like performance in Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference Finals.
Except it didn’t come from this year’s actual MVP.
Serge Ibaka courageously returned from a severe calf injury on Sunday night, helping Oklahoma City take down the San Antonio Spurs 106-97 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The dominant power forward scoffed at any notion of missing the rest of the playoffs by tallying 15 PTS, 7 REB, 4 BLK and 1 STL on 6-of-7 shooting in 30 minutes of play.
In so doing, the Ibaka-powered Thunder are now decidedly back in this series trailing only 2-1, with another game in friendly confines on Tuesday.
Ibaka induced an arena-wide frenzy among the 18,000-plus in attendance with a 19-footer for the first points of the game. He followed with two thunderous blocks, a defensive rebound and three consecutive makes from the field before taking a breather with seven minutes left in the quarter.
The Association’s 2013-2014 Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant added six points in the first. Recently elevated reserve Jeremy Lamb hit a late jumper as well, giving the home squad a 28-26 lead with 0:56 remaining.
All that said, the Spurs actually had the advantage with 0:00 left in the opening frame.
Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green responded with 10 early points, including two 25-footers from the high-percentage shooting guard. Tony Parker then assisted on four of Tim Duncan’s six first-quarter points, providing San Antonio with two brief leads.
Yet it was the ageless Manu Ginobili that ultimately gave the Spurs a small cushion heading into the second.
Ginobili answered Lamb’s 19-footer with his second three-pointer. It solidified his team-leading eight points and facilitated the 29-28 edge.
Oklahoma City found itself trailing nearly five minutes into the following quarter. But it was Ibaka’s short jumper at the 7:03 mark that gave the desperate home team a lead it would never relinquish.
Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 17 of the Thunder’s next 19 points. Westbrook himself scored 12, most notably answering two Ginobili three’s with a 25- and monster 36-footer in the final 35 seconds.
The erratic but crucial point guard erased his earlier shooting woes and put Oklahoma City up 57-53 at the end of the first half.
As it turns out, the Durant and Westbrook show picked up immediately where it left off.
The dynamic duo scored the team’s next eight points and 18 of its 26 in the quarter. That included a pivotal 10 from the charity stripe.
The Spurs own duo of Duncan and Parker knocked down a combined 11 points. Ginobili and Patty Mills contributed a pair of threes as well.
But two free throws from key reserve Steven Adams completed a seven-point Thunder cushion after three.
And that 83-76 lead would only increase in the fourth quarter.
Reggie Jackson’s third driving layup, a sweet three-footer from Durant and Caron Butler’s three-pointer dropped the Spurs into a double-digit hole at the 10:11 mark.
Ibaka’s final hit from the field and Westbrook’s 20-footer raised the deficit to 17 points shortly thereafter. And with Scott Brooks’ timeout 47 seconds later, head-coaching counterpart Gregg Popovich removed all but one of his starters.
The Thunder led by as many as 20 points, and the visiting club didn’t see the single-digit light of day until the game was already over.
Ginobili dropped in a team-high 23, including making 6-of-9 from distance, but scored just three points in the second half. Duncan added 16 PTS and 8 REB, while Leonard rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 PTS for San Antonio.
The Spurs shot just 39.6 percent from the floor, not to mention a measly 25 percent with Ibaka as the primary defender, according to ESPN Stats & Information. They scored only three fast-break points and committed an uncharacteristic 16 turnovers.
Durant and Westbrook coughed up nine turnovers themselves, but also combined for 51 PTS, 18 REB and 10 AST. They went an incredible 16-of-16 from the line.
Jackson started alongside Westbrook at point guard and contributed 15 PTS, 4 REB and 5 AST. Adams complemented Ibaka’s frontline production with 7 PTS, 9 REB and 4 BLK off the bench.
The Thunder shot 45.7 percent from the field, nearly doubled San Antonio’s free throw attempts (31 to 16) and owned the glass by a margin of plus-16.
This Western Conference battle resumes for Game 4 Tuesday night in Oklahoma City at 9:00 PM ET.
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