Gregg Popovich had very few words to describe what he just witnessed from Kevin Durant.
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Tony Parker scored 22 points, but it was not enough as the Spurs fell 111-97 to the Thunder in Game 4 of their Western Conference Semifinals series inside Chesapeake Energy Arena on Sunday. “I don’t know what else to say, he was fantastic”.
Westbrook finished with 31 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. “Our crowd was phenomenal tonight, probably the loudest I’ve ever heard them”, said Durant, who has now played in 82 playoff games with the Thunder since arriving from Seattle in 2008. “I just wanted to remind my team all the time what we’re doing defensively, offensively, if something happens, what we’re going to do”.
After a controversial game 2 loss that was highlighted by a questionable shove by OKC’s Dion Waiters on San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili during an inbound play, Kawhi Leonard stepped up to lead the Spurs to snag the 2-1 edge and regain home court advantage.
The Thunder finished the 1st quarter on a 2-10 shooting drought. “They go down, we know he’s going to be extra aggressive, so we just make sure that everybody’s paying attention to weak side defense”.
The Hawks led by as many as 11 but were dominated in the closing minutes.
Spurs: Shot 52.2 percent in the first quarter to take a 27-17 lead….
“The Spurs have built their reputation on passing and movement, but they have been more than happy to let Aldridge engage in a more ponderous form of post-up play”. And then, not to be outdone, Kevin Durant took over in the second half for the Thunder.
“We can still get the ball stopped and get matched up, and he can filter in back”, Donovan said of Westbrook. “I thought those two guys with the ball in their hands really made great reads and great decisions and we created a lot of open shots for each other”. This doesn’t mean that Westbrook can’t star in his own way-he can do plenty of damage simply by running the offense and attacking the rim when he sees openings-but the wins are harder to come by when Durant isn’t given every opportunity to hit the important shots.
The Spurs continued to excel at forcing the Thunder into turnovers, and were maintaining control of the game despite not hitting a 3-point until the final minute of the 3rd quarter. More importantly, Westbrook only attempted one three-pointer in the second half, opting instead for five shots at the rim.
Game four will tip-off at 7 PM on Sunday. “I got a couple of more shots than usual. We’ve got another game here”.
Westbrook himself had to bounce back from his 31 shots in Game 3, in which afterward he admitted to shooting too much.
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Late in the first half, Leonard received a pass on the wing, blew past Kevin Durant, and launched into the air at Adams.
