Durant’s 41 Lifts Thunder Past Spurs

By Travis Atkinson

4-time NBA Scoring Champion Kevin Durant put on a show Sunday Night.

Durant matched a career playoff high with 41 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 111-97 to tie the Western Conference Semifinal series up at two games apiece.

Durant had 17 of his 41 points in a fourth quarter that saw him go 6/6 from the field. It was part of a second-half onslaught from Durant, who went 10/13 for 29 points in the half after starting 4/12 in the first half.

Durant’s fourth quarter was nothing sort of sensational, as he flipped the script on Oklahoma City’s usual end of game woes with a come from behind win. The Thunder went into the fourth down 6, but Durant soon gave them the lead with 8 consecutive points. After a series of back and forth possessions, Oklahoma City had managed to pull ahead 100-96 with 3:14 to go but the game still looked up for grabs. Durant then scored the next 9 points on a series of pull-ups and fade-aways to expand the Thunders’ lead to 108-97, and put the game out of reach.

“You’ve got to give him credit. He was great,” Spurs Head Coach Greg Popovich said after the game.  “I don’t know how else to say it.”

The loss must be a disappointment for the Spurs. San Antonio looked on the verge of taking a 3-1 lead, but let multiple leads slip away from them. The Spurs got out to a nice start; they shot 52% in the first quarter and went on a 15-6 run to go up 27-17 at the end of the period.

They were unable to maintain the lead in the second quarter though, and after a 10-0 run, Oklahoma City tied the game 40-40 with 3:55remaining in the half.  San Antonio closed out the quarter on 9-0 run though and ended the half up 53-45.

The Spurs held onto the lead into the fourth quarter, but were unable to stand up to the hot shooting of Durant or the intense defense by the Thunder. Durant single-handedly outscored the Spurs 17-16 in the games final period.

“They made it hard on us,” Tony Parker said after the game. “We were in control pretty much all of the game, but the fourth quarter we just couldn’t get the stops that we needed to win the game.”

Parker led the way for San Antonio with 22 points on 10/16 shooting. He was the only Spurs starter in rhythm tonight and the only one to shoot at least 50% from the field. Parker will need to continue with this kind of production if San Antonio is going to win the series. As good as Leonard and Aldridge are, they need someone else to pick up the scoring load at times.

Leonard and Aldridge struggled to find their shot; they were a combined 15/37 from the field for 41 points. Tim Duncan sat for much of the game after picking up four early he fouls. He played a total of 12 minutes and had 0 points while not attempting a shot.

Although Durant was the star of the night, it was far from a one-man show for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook had 14 points, 15 assists, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. He was able to take advantage of his length and athleticism to get into the lane and set up his teammates with open looks.

It was quite a change from the offense we’ve seen from the Thunder. Westbrook attempted just 18 shots compared to 31 and 25 in his previous 2 games. The Thunder offense had a rhythm it hasn’t had all series. They were able to move the ball and execute, especially late in the game. The Thunder shot 50% from the field and wracked up 23 assists compared to just 12 from the Spurs.

Durant acknowledged that it wasn’t an easy task securing the win. “They’re the best defense in league, best defense in the past 15 years,” Durant said. “We’ve got to move our bodies and use our athleticism, our length.”

Steven Adams had 16 points and 11 rebounds as San Antonio continues to struggle with the physicality he brings inside. The Thunder out rebounded the Spurs 40-34 and were able to consistently get put back attempts. Facing a must-win scenario, the Thunder came out with energy and let their athleticism and physically disrupted San Antonio.

This physicality was in Popp’s mind after the game. “They out toughened us,” Popovich said. “They battered us on the board, and at the same time they had some other players that joined in and made some shots”

The Thunder had significant contributions off the bench. Dion Waiters had 17 points on 7/11 shooting and Enes Kanter, who played the entire fourth quarter in replace of Serge Ibaka, had 11 point and 8 rebounds. Both players were vital parts of the Thunders fourth quarter comeback and made big shots late in the game.

Even with the loss, the Spurs did what they needed to do in Oklahoma City. They split the two games and regained home court advantage. The series will return to San Antonio for Game 5, Tuesday at 7:00. Game 6 is set for Thursday at 7:30 in Oklahoma City. If Game 7 is necessary, they’ll return to San Antonio May 15th for the finale.