The ball seemed to hang in the air forever as it left Russell Westbrook’s hands, crossed half court, narrowly jumped over Kawhi Leonard’s hand and landed in Kevin Durant’s awaiting hands. Then, the action went into hyper-drive as Durant put it on the ground once and finished under the rim. The bucket finished off an incredible steal by Westbrook, and finished off the San Antonio Spurs in a crucial 111-97 Game 4 victory for the Thunder.
“It was just locking down and defending,” Westbrook said of the play. “There are going to be possessions like that where you need to get a big stop and a big score that can open up a series or give you an opportunity to win a game. That was a big play for us and Kevin made a good finish.”
With the series now tied 2-2, the Thunder will look at some of the factors that led to an incredible second half effort when Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club outscored San Antonio by 22, including an 18-point advantage in the fourth quarter. Defensively, the Thunder was stout, particularly in the fourth when the Spurs shot just 7-for-21 from the field and Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge combined for just one point.
The Thunder’s unit of Durant, Westbrook, Dion Waiters, Enes Kanter and Steven Adams played the lion’s share of minutes in the fourth, with seven minutes of Randy Foye sprinkled in early in the period. That unit found a way to clog up the paint, be disruptive when contesting shots and to be frank, Durant did a marvelous job defending Leonard one-on-one for long stretches.
“I didn’t do anything individually. It was all a team effort,” Durant said. “We do everything together. 16 points is a great quarter for us defensively. We have to look at that and see how we can try to sustain it.”
On the other end of the floor, the Thunder simply got what it wanted, and much of it had to do with Durant’s speed, size and shooting ability. The Thunder All-Star forward went 6-for-6 from the field in the closing frame, outscoring the Spurs himself 17-16. He had the crucial bucket in transition off of the Westbrook steal, when the Thunder guard simply beat Tony Parker to the spot, cut in front of him and slapped the ball away.
Durant scored twice from behind the arc, on a shimmy shake up top for three and then a dagger in the corner with 1:30 to go. All added up, Durant scored a Playoff career-high-tying 41 points, his sixth game in the postseason of 40 points or more in the past seven years, second-most in that span.
“My teammates did a great job of sticking with me, finding me and getting me easy baskets, screening for me and sacrificing their bodies for me,” Durant deflected. “I’m definitely grateful for it. After they do all that, it’s on me to finish the shot and stick to the fundamentals I’ve been practicing since I was a kid.”
In this Round 2 series against the San Antonio Spurs, every single possession counts. Despite falling behind by 11 in the first half, the Thunder rallied after every Spurs burst, and put itself in position to strike in the fourth quarter. Fueled on by the rabid fans in Chesapeake Energy Arena, the Thunder dominated every hustle play down the stretch. Perhaps the play that defined the effort the Thunder gave all night came with 4:13 left in the game, with the Thunder up 100-93.
After being saved back onto the hardwood by Westbrook, who was diving headfirst into the first row, the ball lazily bounced three feet into the air, there for the taking. Laying on his back after falling to the ground on a layup attempt, Waiters’ eyes grew wide as the ball entered his peripheral vision. He twisted his body, reached out and snared it, then immediately called time out – a heads up play in a crucial fourth quarter moment.
“My job was to try to get the rebound and sustain the possession,” Westbrook said matter-of-factly.
Regaining possession there was vital, but it also helped contribute to a crucial stat: a plus-nine rebounding advantage for the Thunder over the final 12 minutes.
For the night, the Thunder’s defense wasn’t perfect, but it did create an interesting dynamic in comparison to the other end of the floor. The Thunder had five different players in double figures, including a 14-point, seven-rebound, 15-assist effort from Westbrook, a 7-for-11 shooting night from Waiters and a combined 27 points and 19 rebounds from Adams and Kanter.
Game 4 Thunder Highlights:
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“The Run”
The fourth quarter set up to be the absolutely most critical periods of this 2015-16 season, and the Thunder knew it. In order to ensure it had a chance to win down the stretch, the Thunder had to make a push, and its back was officially against the wall when it fell behind 85-79 with about ten minutes remaining. Instead of giving in, the Thunder stuck together and trusted one another on both ends.
“I thought Russell and Kevin did an outstanding job, an incredible job, of really creating help, finding open guys,” Donovan said. “I thought those two guys, when the ball was in their hands, really made great reads and great decisions and we created a lot of open shots for each. That’s what you want to be able to do.”
First, Durant drove and dished to Randy Foye, whose nine-and-a-half minutes were his first meaningful ones in the rotation during this series. Foye splashed a corner three, then a possession later Waiters drove and kicked to Kanter in the opposite corner for three. That’s when Durant started cooking, scoring the Thunder’s next six points to give it a 95-89 lead with 7:22 to go. All told, it was a monster 14-2 run by Donovan’s group, and the lead held firm thanks to some clutch plays down the stretch.
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By the Numbers
5 – Players who scored in double figures for the Thunder, thanks to 23 total assists and 15 from Russell Westbrook
7-for-21 – The shooting numbers the Thunder’s defense held San Antonio to in the fourth quarter, including a 0-for-7 mark from Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge
41 – Points for Kevin Durant on 14-for-25 shooting, tying his Playoff career-high, and making it his sixth 40-point game in the last seven postseasons
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The Last Word
“We battled and we fought. I don’t think we’re a team that’s always perfect, but we have gotten better and we have improved and we have grown. But the one thing about them, there’s a lot of fight, a lot of character, a lot of resiliency. Today it was great to see them battle and fight through.” – Head Coach Billy Donovan