Game Recap from the Thunder website.
SAN ANTONIO – Twisting in mid-air, it was unclear whether Russell Westbrook even had a look at the rim. But as he was bumped by LaMarcus Aldridge, Westbrook carved out the angle to complete his evasion of a wrap-up by Kawhi Leonard and baseline drive that sealed a monstrous 95-91 win in Game 5 against the San Antonio Spurs.
“Coach (Billy Donovan) drew up a good play. We executed very well towards the end of the game,” Westbrook recalled. “I just tried to stay in attack mode, get to the basket and finish.”
The Thunder led by just one at 92-91 when Dion Waiters in-bounded the ball right near the Spurs’ bench, and didn’t panic when Kevin Durant, his apparent initial option, didn’t flash open. He dished it to Westbrook on the baseline, and as he had for the previous 24 minutes the Thunder point guard infused his will into the game. Leaping right over Spurs big men like David West for rebounds, hustling for loose balls and generating chaos out of thin air, Westbrook was a sight to behold.
“There’s no science behind it,” Steven Adams said of Westbrook. “I can’t even explain it.”
The corkscrew finish put a bow on a marvelous night for Westbrook, who racked up 21 of his game-high 35 points in the second half. He also finished with 11 rebounds, nine assists and two steals. He also had eight turnovers, six of which came in the first half as the Thunder gave the ball away 13 times over the first two quarters. In the second half, the Thunder controlled the ball better, dishing out 11 assists compared to just seven turnovers.
It didn’t look good for Oklahoma City in the first half and even deep into the third quarter, as the turnover chickens were coming home to roost. Down 13 with 7:50 to go in the third quarter is not a fun position to be in down in when going against San Antonio, but the Thunder didn’t panic. At each huddle, Durant settled his teammates down and the Thunder chipped away, using a 5-0 spurt to make it a 72-69 Spurs lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“Our enthusiasm and positivity in timeouts, there was a feeling that they were really encouraging each other to keep going and keep pressing,” Head Coach Billy Donovan said.
“We kept fighting. We just had to stay poised,” Waiters said. “Every time we came out of a timeout we kept telling guys ‘They made their run, it’s time to make ours’. Stay with it, stay confident and have faith and believe that this thing is going to turn.”
It was a battle of wills from there on out, and an even higher level defensive struggle than the one that had played out over the previous 36 minutes. With even more game pressure stacked against it, the Thunder trailed 88-82 after what seemed to be a momentous Kawhi Leonard steal and fast break dunk with four minutes to go. Instead, Westbrook turned the game on its nose, knocking down a tough long two-pointer, then going coast to coast for a layup after a Spurs air ball.
After a timeout, Westbrook stole away a rebound under the Thunder basket, and flipped the ball to Enes Kanter, who finished a layup. The Thunder reserve big man came up big on the next two possessions as well, blocking a Tim Duncan layup and then finishing a Durant miss with a tip-in to give the Thunder a 90-88 lead, its first advantage since mid-way through the second quarter.
Tony Parker responded with a mid-range jumper, but Durant was fouled on a jump shot on the next trip and hit both free throws. After Parker only converted one of two at the foul line on the next possession, the teams traded stops and the Thunder gained possession with just 9.3 seconds left, when Westbrook worked his final bit of magic at the rim.
“We got stops and Russ was a maniac tonight, keeping us in it,” Durant said of his All-Star teammate.
“We came into tonight’s game saying that we want to get all the 50/50 balls,” Westbrook explained. “We did a great job of that for 48 minutes. We don’t want another team to say they played harder than us. We did a good job of getting loose balls, getting rebounds, getting tips and getting extra possessions to help us win the game.”
The Thunder forced the Spurs into 6-for-21 shooting in the fourth quarter, while going 10-for-18 from the field on the other end of the floor, which resulted into just enough of a chasm to re-take the lead at the right time. On the night, the Thunder’s defense settled in and grinded out stops, forcing the Spurs to shoot just 39.8 percent while out-rebounding San Antonio 54-36.
Durant added 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Steven Adams’ 12-point, 11-rebound double-double was aided by Kanter’s eight points, game-high 13 rebounds and game-high three blocked shots.
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