Kevin Durant isn't done with the Thunder yet. Durant took over in the second half and put up a career-playoff high 41 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder outscored the San Antonio Spurs 34-16 in the fourth quarter and fought to a 111-97 win to even the second round playoff series at 2-2 on Sunday.
Spurs vs. Thunder 2016 final score: Kevin Durant scores 41 as Oklahoma City evens series at 2-2
The Thunder took Game 4, 111-97, thanks to a monster performance from Kevin Durant.
Durant was the star, but Westbrook’s 14 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds sure helped as the Thunder stayed alive thanks to a win in a must-win game.
Tony Parker was superb for the Spurs in the loss, scoring 22 points while running circles around the Thunder. It wasn't enough, however, as the Thunder shook the "they struggle in the fourth quarter" tag that has followed them this season thanks to a monster performance from Durant.
The Spurs offense came out firing early. They went on a 9-2 run thanks to some beautiful ball movement to end the first quarter up 27-17. The Thunder fought back and took a 45-44 lead with 1:47 left in the second, but the Spurs went on a 9-0 run to take an eight-point lead into the half.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder charge in the third quarter as they fought back to trail 81-77 heading into the fourth. Durant kept pouring it on in the final quarter, leading a 16-4 run that put the Thunder up 95-89 with a 7:30 to play. They led 100-93 with 3:14 left when Parker sunk a sprinting finger roll and was fouled to make it a four-point game. Durant took over one more time, though, and led the Thunder on a 11-1 run to end the game.
Game 5 is on Tuesday in San Antonio.
Here are three things we learned.
Kevin Durant isn’t giving up on the Thunder just yet
While there’s been talk of Durant joining the Spurs this offseason, he was a menace against them on Sunday. He put on a superb offensive display in the second half, scoring 29 points and running the Thunder offense while Westbrook struggled to find his jumper. Westbrook shot only 5-of-18 from the field, but Durant was 14-of-25. The Thunder struggled to close out teams all season, but they knew to feed the ball to Durant on Sunday.
Steal by Westbrook ➡️ Dunk by Durant https://t.co/HCQJ2uuuak
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 9, 2016
Durant was spectacular, and he’s coming back to Oklahoma City for at least one more game because of it.
Tony Parker is finding his form
Parker had 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting and three assists. It's not an eye-opening stat line, but when he's rolling, the Spurs are a different beast. He had his way with Russell Westbrook guarding him, driving to the lane at will and picking apart the Thunder defense. The Spurs know how to make beautiful basketball, and that's thanks in large part to Parker kicking the play off with a drive to the lane or a critical pass to an open man. Parker had only two and seven points in Games 1 and 2, respectively, but he's on the upswing — he had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists in Game 3. The Spurs have countless weapons, but when Parker is playing well — like he was through three quarters — the Spurs are even more dangerous. It wasn't enough on Sunday, but the Thunder are going to need to find a way to slow Parker if they're going to shock the Spurs as this series goes on.
The Thunder have to run
They went on a 10-0 run the second quarter because they buckled down on defense — they held the Spurs scoreless for a 3:45 stretch — and sparked their offense in transition. They fought back in the third quarter in the same way: by attacking in transition. The Spurs loved it when Durant and Westbrook tried to attack in the half court. It’s not that they weren’t getting buckets every once in a while, but this is one of the best defenses in recent history. Nothing comes easy, not even a simple pass to the wing.
The Thunder were able to stay in the game thanks to runs, and if they’re going to win this series, they must continue to attack. It was enough to take Game 4 despite the Spurs appearing ready to take over.
The Spurs have seemed to be in complete control through this playoff series, but now we’ve got a 2-2 tie.
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How everyone screwed up in Thunder-Spurs Game 2
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