Thunder 104, Clippers 98
Kevin Durant scored 25 of his 39 points in the second half and collected 16 rebounds as visiting Oklahoma City defeated Los Angeles to win the Western Conference semifinal series in six games.
Russell Westbrook overcame a subpar 4-of-15 shooting performance to contribute 19 points and 12 assists for the second-seeded Thunder, who will open the Western Conference finals on Monday against the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs. Reggie Jackson added 14 points and Steven Adams chipped in with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Chris Paul had 25 points and 11 assists and Blake Griffin added 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists before fouling out for the third-seeded Clippers. J.J. Redick scored 16 points and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 15 rebounds.
Durant scored five points during a 10-0 fourth-quarter surge that saw Oklahoma City take a 90-80 lead and the Thunder led by 11 after Westbrook hit two free throws with 2:27 remaining. The Clippers responded with seven straight points to get with 97-93 with 49.8 seconds left before Westbrook and Durant each hit two free throws to push the lead back to eight as Oklahoma City reached the conference finals for the third time in four seasons.
Los Angeles led by 16 points after scoring the first basket of the second quarter and held a 50-42 lead at the break. The Clippers led by 11 early in the third quarter but the Thunder scored seven points in the final 56 seconds of the period to tie it at 72 entering the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Thunder F Serge Ibaka departed with 7:34 left in the third quarter due to a left calf injury. … The Clippers were just 12-of-20 from the free-throw line while Oklahoma City was 29-of-33. … Durant had four 30-point outings in the series while averaging 33.2 points.