Westbrook, Durant lift Thunder over Spurs
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, center, fights for a ball with San Antonio Spurs center Tiago Splitter (22) and forward Kawhi Leonard (2) in the second half of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoff series in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 27, 2014. AP
OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined for 71 points Tuesday to lift Oklahoma City to a 105-92 victory over San Antonio that knotted 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 either 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 percent 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 — totaled 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.
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