Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers had contrasting wins but the end result was the same as both sides pushed their NBA playoff series' into deciding seventh games on Thursday.
The Thunder, facing elimination in the Western Conference first-round series, thumped the Memphis Grizzlies 104-84 with Kevin Durant scoring 36 points.
The decisive game seven will be on Saturday in Oklahoma City, where The Oklahoman newspaper Thursday ran a headline dubbing Durant "Mr Unreliable" in the wake of some sub-par scoring performances in this series.
Readers were so irked that the newspaper apologised, saying the headline "missed the mark".
It may have hit home with Durant, who said before the game he needed to be more aggressive.
Durant, the NBA regular-season scoring champion and front-runner for Most Valuable Player honours, did just that, scoring 14 points in the first quarter alone as the Thunder seized control of the contest.
He also pulled down 10 rebounds and made 14 of his 15 free throw attempts.
Russell Westbrook added 25 points for Oklahoma City, whose last first-round playoff exit was in 2010.
Meanwhile the Pacers, top seeds in the Eastern Conference, recorded a come from behind 95-88 win over Atlanta to give themselves a chance to triumph on their home court in game seven on Saturday.
"We had to get this game to get back to our building," said Pacers forward David West, who scored half of his 24 points in the fourth quarter.
West finished with 11 rebounds and six assists. His driving jump shot with 46.5 seconds left broke an 85-85 deadlock and ignited an 8-0 scoring run that let the Pacers seize control of the contest.
Paul George scored 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Lance Stephenson added 21 points and nine rebounds in the season-saving victory.
Nine of George's points came in the fourth quarter, in which Indiana out-scored Atlanta 31-21.
Atlanta received 29 points from Jeff Teague and a monster 16-point, 18-rebound effort out of Paul Millsap.
But the Hawks couldn't find the same success from three-point range that they displayed in Monday's 107-97 victory.
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