Dull Spurs drop third in a row as Thunder jumps into series lead
San Antonio suffers third straight loss
SAN ANTONIO – Kevin Durant scored 27 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder are on the brink of the NBA final, beating the San Antonio Spurs 108-103 in Game 5 on Monday night and moving within a victory of a series knockout.
Russell Westbrook added 23 and the Thunder took a 3-2 lead in a wildly entertaining Western Conference final. Looking invincible while carrying 20win streak a week ago, the Spurs have lost three straight and are on the verge of a stunning collapse.
Manu Ginobili scored 34 in a smashing return to the starting lineup. But trailing 106-103 and the Spurs down to their last shot, Ginobili missed an off-balance three-pointer in the final seconds.
Game 6 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder can punch their ticket to the NBA final in the place they haven’t lost all postseason.
James Harden scored 20 for Oklahoma City and hit the biggest shot, draining a threepointer with 28.8 seconds left that pushed Oklahoma City’s lead to five.
“The shot clock was running down and I had to make a play,” Harden said. “I just shot it with confidence. West Conference finals — that’s a big shot.”
Tony Parker had 20 points and Tim Duncan had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs. After remaining unbeaten for 50 days before arriving in Oklahoma City, San Antonio has lost three games in five day. They now must win two straight to avoid seeing their last best chance to win in a title in the Duncan era end.
“That was a total team effort,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “Everybody did their job.”
Durant scored 22 of his points in the second half.