Thunder level NBA playoffs with Spurs

The Oklahoma City Thunder have beaten the San Antonio Spurs 105-92 to level their NBA Western Conference finals at 2-2.

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined for 71 points Tuesday to lift Oklahoma City to a 105-92 victory over San Antonio that tied up their NBA playoff series at two games each.

The Thunder pulled level in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals with their second straight home win, after the Spurs had taken a 2-0 lead with two big victories on their home floor.

San Antonio will try to regain the advantage when they host game five on Thursday.

The winners of the series will face two-time defending NBA champions Miami or Indiana in the NBA finals.

With the win, the Thunder have recalled the 2012 Western Conference finals, in which the Spurs won the first two games at home only to drop the next four contests to a young, hungry Oklahoma City team.

This year, the Thunder were buoyed in the third game by the return of Serge Ibaka from a left calf injury, and by the dominance of Westbrook and NBA Most Valuable Player Durant on their home floor.

Westbrook finished with 40 points, 10 assists, five steals and five rebounds, while Durant scored 31 points on just 22 shots from the field.

The Thunder shot 50.8 per cent from the field over the first three quarters to build a significant lead - one aided by an astonishing 21-0 advantage in fastbreak points.

San Antonio point guard Tony Parker scored 14 points, while the other two-thirds of the Spurs' "Big Three" - Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili - totalled 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting.

Boris Diaw added 14 points with 10 rebounds off the bench for the Spurs, who are trying to get back to the NBA finals a year after falling in seven games to Miami in the championship series.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world