Thunder at Spurs
Kevin Durant's huge game helped Oklahoma City knot the Western
Conference semifinals and another stellar game from the All-Star forward
could propel the third-seeded Thunder into a 3-2 series lead. Durant
aims to follow up a 41-point effort in Game 4 and lead his team to a
victory in San Antonio for the second time in this series when Oklahoma
City visits the second-seeded Spurs on Tuesday.
Durant's output matched his career postseason high and he personally outscored San Antonio 17-16 in the final quarter of Sunday's 111-97 win. "When you have a deep team, those 40-point nights - they don't come a lot," Durant said afterward. "I'm just trying to be consistent in what I do, and I know in any given moment, I can go off and get a few shots." Though the Spurs were run out of the building in the final quarter of Game 4, concern was mild afterward with the pivotal Game 5 looming. "We were up for a good part of the game. We couldn't close it," backup shooting guard Manu Ginobili told reporters. "So we've got to keep fighting. Nobody expected to sweep or have an easy series against a team like them. We're going back home. We have homecourt advantage. Hopefully, we take care of it."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE THUNDER: Durant is averaging 27.8 points in the series - he opened with a subpar 16-point showing in Game 1 - and point guard Russell Westbrook is averaging 22 points and 10.5 assists despite shooting just 33.3 percent. The biggest surprise has been the play of 22-year-old center Steven Adams, who has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in each of the four games while averaging 9.8 points and 12.3 rebounds as well as annoying most of the Spurs. "He makes the other bigs hate him because he goes hard every time," backup center Enes Kanter told reporters. "He gets under their skin, and in their head."
ABOUT THE SPURS: San Antonio was awful while being outscored 34-16 in the final quarter of Game 4 and it was more than Durant's greatness that decided the contest. "I think down the stretch in the fourth quarter, we made too many mistakes," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "Just not remembering who we were guarding and how we wanted to play. But having said that, they out-toughed us, they battered us on the boards. At the same time, they had some other players that joined in and made shots." Point guard Tony Parker was strong offensively for the second straight game with 22 points - he is averaging 20.5 over the past two games after averaging just 4.5 over the first two contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Spurs C Tim Duncan went scoreless in 12 minutes in Game 4 and has been a complete nonfactor in the series, averaging three points and 3.8 rebounds.
2. Oklahoma City backup SG Dion Waiters scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in Game 4 after being 6-of-17 shooting over the first three games.
3. San Antonio PF LaMarcus Aldridge, averaging 30.8 points in the series, is just 16-of-39 shooting over the last two games after being a splendid 33-of-44 over the first two contests.