|
 Leonard shot 9 of 17 from the field to go along with 11 rebounds
and three assists. LaMarcus Aldride added 24 points and eight
rebounds. Tony Parker posted 19 points as the Spurs took a 2-1 lead
in the Western Conference semifinal.
Russell Westbrook paced the Thunder with 31 points on 10 of 31
shooting. He added nine rebounds and eight assists. Kevin Durant
posted 26 points, five rebounds and three assists. Serge Ibaka
scored 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting from the 3-point line.
The Thunder offense began to roll midway through the fourth quarter.
Back to back 3-pointers from Ibaka and Westbrook gave them their
first lead of second half. Durant added a baseline jumper to take an
83-81 advantage.
 After Aldridge scored, Durant hit another jumper and Oklahoma City
led by two with 5:20 left in the game. But the Spurs quickly
responded with free throws from Leonard and a Parker layup to retake
the lead.
Aldridge and Leonard connected on four straight free throws that
resulted from Thunder turnovers and bad offense. But Durant and
Westbrook both scored to close the gap to 91-89.
Aldridge went to the line again, but only made 1 of 2 attempts. Yet
a Thunder turnover led to a Leonard layup and a Spurs 94-89 lead.
Another turnover by Oklahoma City gave David West a bucket. The
Spurs went ahead by seven.
[to top of second column] |
Westbrook drained a pair of free throws before Durant stole the ball
from Leonard. That led to another pair two free throws from
Westbrook that cut the deficit to 96-94 with 46.7 seconds left.
The Thunder forced Aldridge into tough shot, which he missed.
However. Leonard came up with the loose ball. The Spurs Tony Parker
was fouled and he hit both free throw attempts to give the visiting
team a four point advantage with 18 seconds left.
Oklahoma City used 14 seconds on the clock and came away with a Dion
Waiters jumper. But Leonard put the game away with a pair of free
throws.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
