OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma: Kevin Durant scored 12 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter yesterday as Oklahoma City rallied for a 93-91 win over Memphis in game one of their second round NBA Western Conference playoff series.
Durant delivered the Thunder’s final three baskets from the floor, including a go-ahead jump shot with 11.1 seconds remaining that gave Oklahoma City a 91-90 lead.
Oklahoma City’s Derek Fisher had stolen the ball from the Grizzlies’ Mike Conley to give Durant the chance.
“We made a good defensive play,” Durant said of the sequence. “They have such a great team defense, I just wanted to get up as quick as possible and find a shot. That was the only shot I could find.
“My teammates did a great job of setting me up all game,” Durant added. “I missed some easy ones ... I was able to hit that one.”
Reggie Jackson made two free throws to stretch the lead to 93-90 with 2.9 seconds left.
But Jackson then fouled Quincy Pondexter as he attempted a three-pointer, giving Pondexter a chance to tie it from the free-throw line.
Pondexter missed the first of his three foul shots, with less than two seconds to play.
“I told Reggie when he made those free throws, ‘We have got to get a stop. You hitting two free throws, it’s all good and congratulations -- but we’ve got to get a stop right here,’” Durant said.
“And it kind of went in our favor. We fouled them with a three and they missed a free throw.”
Oklahoma City will host game two of the best-of-seven series today. The Thunder trailed by as many as 12 in the second half, but Durant -- second to Miami’s LeBron James in the Most Valuable Player voting announced yesterday -- kept them in it, finishing with game highs in points and in rebounds with 15 and assists with six.
Kevin Martin came off the bench to score 25 points for the second straight game, after helping the Thunder oust the Houston Rockets in game six of their first-round series. Jackson finished with 12 points on four-of-eight shooting from the field.
Meanwhile, David West scored 20 points as the visiting Indiana Pacers rallied from a first-quarter deficit to beat the New York Knicks 102-95 in game one of their second round play-off series yesterday.
All five starters finished in double figures for the Pacers, who played with an edge but kept their composure to bring back memories of the Indiana teams of the 1990s that battled hard against their New York Eastern Conference rivals.
“We did a good job of taking advantage of our shots and finishing around the rim,” said power forward West of the Pacers, who outrebounded the Knicks 44-30. “We were attacking, we were aggressive.”
The Pacers squared off against the Knicks three consecutive years beginning with the 1993 post-season then again between 1998-2000. Centre Roy Hibbert finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocks in the best-of-seven series.AFP
