Forward Kevin Durant scored 36 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Clippers 118-112 in Game 3 of their Western Conference semi-finals series on Friday.
The victory moved the Thunder into a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and after being blown out by 17 points in the opener, Oklahoma City have rallied well to take the initiative going into today’s Game 4 in Los Angeles.
“We knew that this team is a really great passing team and in the first game they picked us apart,” Durant told reporters. “I think we did a good job of weathering the storm throughout the game and sticking together and we’re going to have to do that even more next game if we want to win. It’s going to be probably the toughest game of the series.”
Photo: AFP
Point guard Russell Westbrook scored 23 points and dished out 13 assists for the Thunder. He also had eight rebounds, just missing his fourth triple-double of the playoffs.
Clippers forward Blake Griffin scored 34 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had three blocks for Los Angeles, who lost for the first time in 36 games when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter at home.
They led 90-86 at the final break.
Point guard Chris Paul had 21 points and 16 assists for Los Angeles, while guard Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 20 points.
Oklahoma City held a 106-101 lead with four minutes remaining in the game after a put-back dunk by forward Serge Ibaka, who finished with 20 points and six rebounds.
Griffin had cut the Thunder’s lead to 108-107 with 2 minutes, 23 seconds remaining, but a Westbrook three-pointer and a Durant jumper gave Oklahoma a 113-107 advantage with 1m, 23s left, a margin too great for Los Angeles to overcome.
The two teams shot well from the free-throw line, with the Thunder converting 24 of 28 attempts compared to 21 of 24 for the Clippers.
PACERS, WIZARDS
AFP, WASHINGTON
The Indiana Pacers seized control of their NBA second round playoff series on Friday by beating Washington 85-63 with a 23-point performance from Paul George and a superb defensive effort.
George scored seven of his points in the third quarter as the Pacers turned a one-point halftime lead into a 60-45 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
“We have gotten to this point because of defense. And that is what we did tonight,” George said.
Indiana outscored the Wizards by 14 points in the third to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series.
Roy Hibbert tallied 14 points and five rebounds, while David West scored 12 points in the victory in front of a crowd of 20,356 at the Verizon Center.
“We try to highlight the positives and to recognize that what we were able to do tonight gives us more defensive confidence,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.
Bradley Beal paced the Wizards attack with 16 points, and Trevor Ariza added 12 points and 15 rebounds.
The Wizards shot just 32.9 percent from the field, including four-of-16 from beyond the arc as they lost their second straight game.
“They controlled the game,” Washington’s Ariza said.
The Wizards will look to get back on track today when they are to host Game 4.
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