Spurs drop another one to rolling Thunder
Big forward goes to work in fourth quarter
OKLAHOMA CITY – When Lil Wayne turned down Kevin Durant’s invitation to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the Western Conference final, he missed quite a show by the three-time scoring champion.
Durant scored 18 of his 36 points in a scintillating final seven minutes and Serge Ibaka added a career-high 26 points as the Thunder evened the series at two games apiece by beating the San Antonio Spurs 109-103 Saturday night.
After seeing his team’s 15-point lead dwindle to four, Durant took over midway through the fourth quarter by scoring all 16 of the Thunder’s points during a span of just over five minutes to keep the Spurs at bay.
“I didn’t tell myself that I need to go score because what we were doing was working,” Durant said. “We were passing the ball and guys were making shots. ... I just wanted to stick with what we were doing, but it started to open up for me and I could see some lanes that gave me some opportunities to make some shots.”
With all-star teammate Russell Westbrook limited to seven points, Durant did almost all of the damage late to send the series back to San Antonio all square for Game 5 on Monday night.
Durant, who finished behind only LeBron James in MVP voting, hit three straight jumpers, the last one coming after he bumped into Tony Parker in the lane to draw a foul and set up a three-point play. Then he attacked the rim for his next three baskets, getting to the line again when he was fouled on a layup off of James Harden’s alley-oop.
Durant hit another jumper after coming off a Westbrook screen for the last basket in his personal run — but the Spurs were still within striking distance. Rookie Kawhi Leonard hit a pair of three-pointers and the Spurs were down only 102-96 with 1:24 left.
The Spurs succeeded in getting the ball out of Durant’s hands on the next possession, only for him to provide the assist on Harden’s threepointer from the left wing that bumped the lead to nine.
“When a player that talented gets hot, it’s really hard to contain,” San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili said. “We tried different things and they didn’t work. He scored a bunch in a short period of time. When we tried to blitz or really help, he kicked it and they made big shots.”
Durant hit two free throws in the final minute to help close it out.
Before the game, Durant said he still hoped to convince Lil Wayne to come see a game in Oklahoma City after the rapper created a stir before Game 3 by tweeting he was denied access and followed it up by saying he felt “unwanted” at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
With another big closing effort, Durant provided another reason to catch the Thunder, who are trying to become the 15th team in NBA history to overcome a 2-0 deficit in a seven-game series.