Spurs reeling against Thunder

   Miami's Dwyane Wade drives to the basket over Boston's Paul Pierce (34). The Heat were up, 65-60, over the visiting Celtics at the end of the third quarter. Tuesday night's game ended too late for this edition.
   Miami's Dwyane Wade drives to the basket over Boston's Paul Pierce (34). The Heat were up, 65-60, over the visiting Celtics at the end of the third quarter. Tuesday night's game ended too late for this edition. (LYNNE SLADKY / Associated Press)
Associated Press
Posted: June 06, 2012

Oklahoma City has gone from fighting for survival to being on the brink of the NBA Finals after Kevin Durant scored 27 points and the Thunder beat the host San Antonio Spurs, 108-103, in Game 5 on Monday night.

Less than a week after facing an 0-2 hole that only 14 NBA teams have overcome, the Thunder head into Game 6 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday night needing only to protect their home court to advance and play for the title.

The Spurs were riding a 20-game winning streak when Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks made a series of defensive adjustments, including sticking Thabo Sefolosha on all-star point guard Tony Parker. San Antonio still hasn't recovered and now must become the first road team to win at Chesapeake Energy Arena this postseason to keep playing.

"We came here, we wanted to get a win on their home floor," Durant said. "That's what it took for us to advance or to get to where we wanted to go."

Russell Westbrook added 23 and the Thunder took a three-games-to-two lead in a wildly entertaining series. The Spurs have lost three straight and are on the verge of a stunning collapse.

Manu Ginobili scored 34 in a smashing return to the starting lineup, and the switch showed just how much Spurs coach Gregg Popovich knew his team might be in trouble. The only way the Spurs would have considered the move a success is if they had won, and that chance went clanging off the back of the rim with 4.9 seconds left when Ginobili missed an off-balance three.

Ginobili then walked to the scorer's table, made a fist, and hammered it down.

"It wasn't a great shot, but it wasn't a bad one," Ginobili said. "It just didn't go in."

It was the Spurs' first loss at home since April 11.

Popovich said he removed Danny Green from the starting lineup and plugged in Ginobili - who had started only seven previous times this season - to give the Spurs "an energy boost." But that didn't solve a third straight uneven game for the Spurs, particularly another languid second quarter that put them in a 14-point hole.

"If we don't get that straight," Popovich said, "it'll be over on Wednesday."

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