Thunder, Pacers win semis openers

Lebron grabs 4th MVP award

KEVIN Durant had 35 points, 15 rebounds and six assists and nailed the go-ahead shot with 11.1 seconds left as top-seeded Oklahoma City rallied to upend visiting Memphis, 93-91, in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals.

Kevin Martin added 25 points for the Thunder, who trailed by nine entering the fourth quarter.

The fifth-seeded Grizzlies led 90-87 with 1:07 to play but committed two costly turnovers in the final 18 seconds and were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer after Quincy Pondexter intentionally missed a free throw with 1.6 seconds left.

Marc Gasol had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Zach Randolph had 18 points and 10 boards for Memphis, which hurt itself by going 14-of-24 from the free-throw line.

The Thunder caught the Grizzlies at 84 on Durant’s short jumper with 3:46 remaining but Memphis rebounded to take a 90-87 lead on Gasol’s basket with 1:07 left.

Memphis still had a one-point lead when Derek Fisher made a steal with 17.9 seconds left to set up Durant’s go-ahead hoop, and the Grizzlies turned the ball over again on Gasol’s bad pass with 3.5 seconds remaining.

Medanwhile, David West scored 20 points and Paul George added 19 as visiting Indiana took GameOne from New York, 102-95, in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Roy Hibbert collected 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocks for Indiana, which took back homecourt advantage in the best-of-seven series. Reuters

James near unanimous choice

Miami Heat forward LeBron James was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the 2012-13 season on Sunday. James, who bagged his fourth MVP award, got 120 firstplace votes from the panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters.