Spurs kicked to sidelines after blowing huge lead to Thunder
Inspired Durant fuels second- half rally as Oklahoma City secures first berth in NBA Final since franchise relocated from Seattle in 1996
OKLAHOMA CITY — After years of nagging Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks not to take him out of games, Kevin Durant finally got his wish.
And now, he’s one big step closer to making his basketball dreams come true.
Durant had 34 points and 14 rebounds while playing all of regulation for the first time this season, and the Thunder claimed a spot in the NBA Final by beating the San Antonio Spurs 107- 99 on Wednesday.
Russell Westbrook added 25 points for the Thunder, who trailed Game 6 of the Western Conference Final by 18 in the first half and erased a 15- point halftime deficit before pulling ahead to stay in the fourth.
“It’s an amazing moment for him to play like this in this moment, in this setting, and I wasn’t going to take him out,” Brooks said.
“I was not going to take him out. I don’t care how many times he looked at me fatigued. He has enough, and I think all of our guys have enough to play. You just have to fight through it.”
Durant grabbed the final rebound, dribbled the ball across half court and raised his right fist to celebrate with a sold- out crowd wearing free white T- shirts. The franchise will play for the NBA title for the first time since 1996, before relocating from Seattle.
Even before the final buzzer, Durant indulged by hugging his mother and brother seated courtside after a foul was called with 14 seconds remaining.
“I never want to take those moments for granted,” Durant said. “I know it’s just one step closer to our dreams, but it felt good.”
Tony Parker had 29 points and 12 assists for San Antonio, but only eight of the points and two assists came in the second half.
The Thunder outscored the Spurs 59- 36 after falling behind 63- 48 at halftime and getting a challenge from Brooks that he said had “nothing to do” with committing eight turnovers against only six assists while allowing San Antonio to shoot 9- for- 15 on 3- pointers.
“It just had everything to do with who we are as men, who we are as a team, the type of spirit that we want to show every time down the court,” Brooks said. “It was all about that, about body language, about being a family.
“I thought our guys did that the first possession of that second half and they did not look back.”
Tim Duncan chipped in 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Stephen Jackson scored 23 as San Antonio lost its fourth straight after becoming only the fourth team in NBA history to win 20 games in a row.
In the process, the Spurs pushed past Oklahoma City for the best record in the league and home- court advantage in the playoffs. But the Thunder took that back by winning Game 5 in San Antonio on Monday.
“There’s
not
much
to complain about,” San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili said.
“We had a great run. We just couldn’t beat these guys.”
The Thunder, only three years removed from a 3- 29 start that had them on pace for the worst record in NBA history, went through the only three West teams to reach the final since 1998 — Dallas, the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio — to earn their shot at the title.
Game 1 of the NBA Final will be Tuesday in Oklahoma City against either Boston or Miami. The Celtics lead that series 3- 2 and can earn a trip to the NBA Final with a win at home in Game 6 tonight.
The Thunder took the lead for good early in the fourth quarter, getting nine of their first 13 points on free throws as the fouls started to pile up for frustrated San Antonio — six on the defensive end and three on the offensive end in the first seven minutes.