In the end, OKC was up by one 92- 91 with 9.3 seconds to go when Dion Waiters threw an inbound pass to Westbrook. Kevin Durant is on fire.
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“It’s winning time!” he yelled.
The series, now at 3-2 in Oklahoma City’s favor after Tuesday’s 95-91 win on the Spurs home floor, has been rife with incredible offensive and defensive displays and even loads of controversy over the officiating. That marks their highest total this postseason and their second-highest in any game ever (with Game 4 of the 2012 Finals against the Miami Heat barely edging it out at 86%).
The come-from-behind triumph was a huge victory and put the Thunder in position to close out the series at home on Thursday night.
In two months, it may be looked back on as the game that kept Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City.
Westbrook is forever polarizing, and this game is a flawless summary as to why. He had 35 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists. It’s why that Spurs’ fan stood up and cheered when he walked back to check in. Westbrook went on to make his free throw and put his team up by four to win game 5. “But the referee, I guess, he didn’t see it, and you know, you’ve just got to keep playing through it”. That continued in Game 5. It might as well have been the fifth game of the season against the Bulls.
But as Leonard grabbed Westbrook, no whistle came.
Adams and Kanter also have slowed LaMarcus Aldridge, who averaged 39.5 points on 75 percent shooting the first two games.
“I think he did a good job at both ends of the court”, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. The Thunder had to respond, and they responded with an absolutely massive victory on Saturday, silencing critics, and making this series all the more interesting. “It’s just a matter of the ball going in and out of the basket”.
But that’s exactly what’s on Durant’s mind as he jacks the trey in the opening quarter, putting Oklahoma City up by six.
Westbook was just one dime off a sensational triple-double as he finished with 35 points (12/27 FG, 3/7 3PT), 11 rebounds and nine assists, as well as two steals and eight turnovers, in a typically dynamic performance from the classy playmaker.
“Can’t explain it, he’s just swinging… swinging, swinging at the knees”, Steven Adams said of Westbrook as he shook his head. He was plus-27 in the series opener, but has been a combined minus-21 in the other four games.
Green meanwhile insisted the Spurs could square the series and force a decisive seventh game back in San Antonio.
“There’s no individuals in this game, there’s no individual matchups”, Durant said. One game it’s this, and the next game it’s that.
As expected, the Game 5 report validates what we all saw, that officials missed Kawhi Leonard fouling Russell Westbrook in the closing seconds of the game. And then in overtime, the Caps made a wild save when a defenceman slid and somehow blocked a shot that everybody thought was going in the net. But in Game 5, the Thunder rarely ran any kind of crisp, designed offense. Duncan shot 1-of-6 for five points in 28 minutes.
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“I will always rely on a guy’s skill level”, the Hall of Famer said on Francesa’s show. The refs will call the game.
