Oklahoma City Thunder overcome spirited San Antonio Spurs in Game-5 of the Western Conference Finals – NBA Recap Part 2
With the Oklahoma City Thunder leading 95-88 and a little over 5 minutes left in the game, Serge Ibaka scored a jump shot and James Harden hit a crunch time three pointer while winning a free throw on the next possession to cap
off a 6-0 run that put the Thunder up 101-88 and sucked the energy out of the arena.
At that point, victory seemed imminent for Oklahoma City.
However, the Spurs were not in the mood to let the Thunder off that easily on their court. Stephen Jackson hit a three pointer and then Tim Duncan got into the game. He scored 6 straight points for the Spurs and Ginobili scored
on two free throw attempts to cap off an 11-0 run by the Spurs that had them within 2 of the Thunder.
With 28 seconds left in the game and the Spurs trailing by two points, the play of the night came when James Harden could not find Kevin Durant open and with the shot clock winding down, he himself stepped back for a three point
attempt.
The shot was good and Harden gave the Thunder a decisive 106-101 lead over the Spurs and silenced the arena. The Thunder went on to win 108-103 after Ginobili missed a three point attempt to tie the game.
"The shot clock was running down and I had to make a play. Leonard was playing great defense on me. I just shot it with confidence. West Conference finals - that's a big shot” said Harden after the game.
Harden had 20 points and 4 rebounds for the night, going 6 of 11 from the field and 5 of 6 from the foul line. Russell Westbrook was the third member of the Thunder team with 20 plus points, as he finished with 23 points and 12
assists, going 9 of 24 from the field. Serge Ibaka added 9 points and Kendrick Perkins grabbed 10 rebound for the Thunder. Daequan Cook played only 4 minutes for the Thunder but was 3 of 3 from the field including 2 of 2 from beyond the arc for his 8 points.
For the Spurs, Ginobili was the star of the night but he did not get much help from his teammates. Tony Parker had 20 points and 4 assists, going 5 of 14 from the field. Tim Duncan had 18 points and 12 rebounds and did make an
impact for a while in the final quarter when he scored 6 straight points to bring the Spurs within two of the Thunder, but did not disturb the Thunder defence other than that. Stephen Jackson had another good night coming off the bench, going 3 of 6 from the
distance for 13 points.
Oklahoma City shot 50% from the field and 87% from the foul line. The Spurs were 45.9% from the field and 83.9% from the foul line. Kawhi Leonard’s 10 rebounds helped the Spurs outrebound the Thunder 42-34. The Spurs committed
21 turnovers to 16 for the Thunder and Oklahoma City capitalized on bad ball handling by the Spurs, scoring 28 points off turnovers.
"Championship teams win on the road. Oklahoma City just did that” said Coach of the Year Gregg Popovich after the game.
Game 6 will be played on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City where the Thunder will have a chance to book a place in the NBA Finals.
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