OKLAHOMA CITY — When Lil Wayne turned down Kevin Durant’s invitation to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, he missed quite a show by the three-time scoring champion.
Durant scored 18 of his 36 points in a scintillating final 7 minutes, Serge Ibaka added a career-high 26 points and the Thunder evened the series at two games apiece by beating the Spurs 109-103 last night.
After seeing his team’s 15-point lead dwindle to four, Durant took over midway through the fourth quarter by scoring all 16 of the Thunder’s points during a span of just over five minutes to keep the Spurs at bay.
“I didn’t tell myself that I need to go score because what we were doing was working,” Durant said.
“I just wanted to stick with what we were doing, but it started to open up for me and I could see some lanes that gave me some opportunities to make some shots.”
With All-Star teammate Russell Westbrook limited to seven points, Durant did most of the damage late to send the series back to San Antonio all square for Game 5 tomorrow night.
Durant, who finished behind only LeBron James in MVP voting, hit three straight jumpers, the last one coming after he bumped into Tony Parker in the lane to draw a foul and set up a three-point play. Then he attacked the rim for his next three baskets, getting to the line again when he was fouled on a layup off of James Harden’s alley-oop.
Durant hit another jumper after coming off a Westbrook screen for the last basket in his personal run — and the Spurs were still within striking distance. Rookie Kawhi Leonard bracketed a pair of 3-pointers around that Durant jumper, and the Spurs were only down 102-96 with 1:24 left, but they could get no closer.
“When a player that talented gets hot, it’s really hard to contain,” San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili said.
Bosh to miss Heat’s Game 4
Heat forward Chris Bosh, who is recovering from an abdominal strain, will not play in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics tonight.
Oklahoma City Thunder, Thunder, Kevin Durant, Western Conference finals, Eastern Conference finals, the Spurs, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Tony Parker, Lil Wayne, LeBron James, Manu Ginobili
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