"That's who we want to be," said Collins, obviously disappointed after his team let a five-point lead with a less than 40 seconds left in regulation slip away. "They built through the draft, their younger players have gotten better. They've got a dynamite point guard, they've got a tremendous player in Durant, they've got a young big guy in [Serge] Ibaka and [James] Harden. We think we've got some nice, young pieces. The difference they have right now is they've got that big shot-blocking in the lane. It's tough to finish in the lane."
And defensively it's almost impossible to stop Durant (34 points) and Westbrook (27).
When Sixers reserve Lou Williams (22 points) dropped in a three-pointer from the left corner - his ninth straight point - it gave the Sixers a seemingly safe 101-96 lead with 2 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in regulation. After a couple of defensive stops by both teams, Durant hit a tough, double-pumping runner from the left baseline to pull Oklahoma City within three, then tied the game with 6.2 seconds left. On that play, the 6-11 forward came all the way from the baseline, running defenders through a couple of picks, before swishing a 28-footer from out front to tie the game at 101. The Sixers failed to get off a shot at the end, as Andre Iguodala, who finished with 14 points and eight assists, was called for an offensive foul.
"We had some miscommunications among ourselves," Iguodala said of Durant's three-pointer, on which it appeared some players were looking for defensive switches. "We can't let him get the ball when they needed a three. We just didn't communicate. As players, it was our fault. We need to communicate better."
