Serging Forward: Ibaka Provides Spark, Thunder Even Series

Durantula Unleashed: How Kevin Durant Was Freed

How did Kevin Durant single-handedly carry the Thunder to a Game 4 win over the Spurs in the fourth quarter? He didn't really do it single-handedly.

Gregg Popovich Concerned With Spurs' Turnover Issues

Gregg Popovich's Spurs were winners of 20 straight games from the end of the regular season through Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, and are now the losers of two straight, having been whomped twice in Oklahoma City by the Thunder.

Popovich faults the Spurs' issues with turnovers for their issues with having more points than the Thunder. Asked about San Antonio's play in the high post, he redirected a question to turnovers.

I'm more concerned with the number of turnovers we've had. We had 21 last game. That really fuels those guys. As quick and fast and talented as they are, it's like a layup drill every time we turn it over. So we're better off spending our time worrying about that kind of stuff than not playing in a crowd, valuing the basketball more than trying to concoct some play or offense.

The Spurs committed 16 turnovers in Game 1 of the series, 13 in Game 2, and 21 in Game 3 before self-correcting a bit with 10 in Game 4.

For more on the Spurs, be sure to visit Pounding the Rock; for the Thunder, Welcome to Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation's NBA page.

Stephen Jackson: San Antonio's Hip Hop Ambassador

Stephen Jackson: Spurs Need To Play Harder

At halftime of Game 3, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich laid into his team for sloppy play and a lack of effort. After the Game 3 loss, San Antonio guard Stephen Jackson said the Spurs will need to bring better effort if they want to get past Oklahoma City.

"Those (Oklahoma City) kids are playing hard," Jackson said after Game 3. "They want it. I think we've got to get back to being that way."

Jackson also said he was surprised by the lack of effort in the first half, especially considering what is at stake.

"This is the Western Conference finals. I know a million people who want to be in our shoes. For him to have to come in here and scream at guys to play hard ... I am shocked. Everybody should be ready to play. ... We've got to show more emotion and more passion to want to win this thing."

Jackson scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in Game 3. He is averaging 8.8 points per game in 19.8 minutes per game in the series.

For more on the Spurs, be sure to visit Pounding the Rock; for the Thunder, Welcome to Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation's NBA page.

What Does It Mean?!?!?

It's a double mohawk all the way
Whoa it's so intense
Whoa
Man
Whoa
Whoa
Whoa
OMG OMG
OH MY GOD!
WOOOOOO!
OH WOW!
WOOOOOO! YEEEAH!
OMG
OMG
OMG look at that
It's starting to look like a triple mohawk!
OMG it's full on
Double mohawk all the way across his head!
*sobbing* OMG ... OMG ... oh god
What does this mean?
OH! OMG
OH!
Oh, god.
It's SO bright
OMG it's so bright and vivid
OH! OH!
OH *sobbing*
It's so beautiful
Oh my god
OMG
It's a double complete mohawk
On my TV
OMG
Too much!
I don't know what it means
It's so intense
OMG

Oh, and he just got married ... at a Thunder game.

Transcript via modchen

Kevin Durant's Cajones Eclipse Serge Ibaka's Historical Night

Kevin Durant scored 16 straight points for the Thunder to ice the Spurs and assure the series would be tied 2-2 headed back to San Antonio for Game 5, but, historically speaking, his night wasn't even the most impressive on his team. That designation would belong to Serge Ibaka, who went 11-11 from the field — and 4-4 from the free-throw line — the first time since at least 1986 1978 that any player has made at least 10 field goals without a miss in the playoffs, according to Basketball Reference's Game Finder.

After the game, while interviewing Durant, Craig Sager informed the 23-year-old superstar that Ibaka was flawless shooting, to which he responded, "He didn't miss a shot? Wow." Wow, indeed, Mr. Durant.

The man known as KD was pretty wow himself, with 36 points, eight assists and six rebounds, including 18 in the fourth quarter, the most in his playoff career.

Thunder Vs. Spurs, NBA Playoffs 2012 Game 4: OKC Wins 109-103, Evens Series 2-2

The Thunder, led by Kevin Durant, won Game 4 of the Western Conference finals 109-103 to even their series with the Spurs 2-2.

Durant led Oklahoma City with 36 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter. The Thunder entered the fourth quarter with a four-point lead, but Durant took over by scoring 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting. The Thunder also got a huge game from Serge Ibaka. Ibaka was perfect from the floor, making 11-of-11 field goal attempts. His 26 points were a career-high and only the third time this season he scored 20 or more in a game.

The Spurs have now lost two straight games following their 20-game winning streak. Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 21 points while rookie Kawhi Leonard chipped in with 17 points. Tony Parker finished with 12 points. In San Antonio's two wins in this series, Parker is averaging 26.0 points per game while that average drops to 14.0 points per game in the Spurs two losses.

For more on the Spurs, be sure to visit Pounding the Rock; for the Thunder, Welcome to Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation's NBA page.

Kawhi Leonard Has Been Everywhere

Sure, the Spurs may go on to lose this game — after a James Harden three-pointer and Kevin Durant's apotheosis in the fourth quarter, the Thunder lead by seven points with 0:57 to play — but Kawhi Leonard has been outstanding.

Before the fourth quarter, he had played great defense on Durant, but since Durant went off, Leonard has done his best to match him. He's scored 17 points with eight rebounds and has missed just one shot, and has been the best Spurs player by far down the stretch. It's likely not enough, but it's worth a tip of the cap for a rookie who's looking more and more like the steal of the 2011 NBA Draft.

Kevin Durant Has Scored The Past 13 Thunder Points

There was a time when Serge Ibaka was the story of Game 4 between the Thunder and Spurs, but no more. Kevin Durant has scored the Thunder's last 13 points, singlehandedly keeping the Spurs at bay as Tim Duncan and co. have worked hard to come back. Durant has used a mix of floaters, dunks, jumpers and free throw — in fact, he's about to go to the line to make it 14 straight points — and he hasn't missed an attempt in this little run. Considering it took him more than a quarter to score a point, and he has 31 at the moment (2:57 left to play), you could say he's on fire.

Spurs Chipping Away At Thunder's Lead

The Thunder had a 12-point halftime lead, have led by eight for much of the third quarter, and Serge Ibaka is having a historically amazing game. But with less than six minutes remaining in the game, the Spurs trail by just four points, 90-86, thanks to a steady chipping away of the lead with penetration by Tony Parker and Tim Duncan and outside shooting form Boris Diaw and Gary Neal. This is still shaping up to be a terrific finish.

Serge Ibaka Erases DeJuan Blair's Dunk Attempt

There's a time when having no ACLs may come back to bite you when you're a professional athlete. When you're trying for a fast-break dunk and the NBA's leading shot-blocker — who also happens to be having the best playoff game of his career — is bearing down on you, it would help if you had two ACLs. Sorry, DeJuan Blair, but Serge Ibaka ain't havin' that. Not tonight.

UPDATE: Upon further review, Blair got rejected by the rim first, but since it wasn't in the cylinder, that was a legal play by Ibaka. And hilarious.

Serge Ibaka Is 9-For-9 With 22 Points In The Third Quarter

Serge Ibaka just checked out of the game with 3:44 left in the third quarter. So far in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, he is 9-9 from the field, 4-4 from the free throw line and has scored 22 points. This is not a drill. Ibaka isn't quite Theo Ratliff, but he's not known for this type of production. His previous career playoff high is 18 points. Here he is popping his jersey after field goal No. 9:

Serge Ibaka Throws Down Monster Cuff Dunk

Sometimes, basketball players cuff the ball before they dunk it because their hands are too small to palm it. I don't think that applies to Serge Ibaka, so he totally just did this because he's a badass.

Spurs Vs. Thunder Score Update: Surprising Cast Leads OKC To 12-Point Halftime Lead

The Oklahoma City Thunder came into Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs needing a win to tie the series at two apiece, and most would predict a steady diet of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden to accomplish that. In a development akin to hell freezing over and Shaquille O'Neal transforming into Dr. Jack Ramsay before our eyes, Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka are the Thunder's two leading scorers, and the Thunder lead the Spurs by 12 points.

Perkins has looked bouncier than he has pretty much all season with a few dunks and he's even hitting jump shots. Ibaka has been known to possess a jumper of some consistency, but he's been less and less confident in it this season. He's been on the money so far in this game — in fact, he hasn't missed a shot — going 6-6 for 14 points. Perkins has 13 points and eight rebounds.

On the other side of the ball, the Spurs big men have been unsurprisingly absent considering what's happening with their opponents. Duncan looks more than a step slow, Splitter had an abysmal stretch to start the second quarter and hasn't played since, and Boris Diaw isn't enough to control the paint on either end, and has been largely invisible. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have been active when on the floor, but they haven't made too much of an impact, combining for 12 points.

For more on the Spurs, be sure to visit Pounding the Rock; for the Thunder, Welcome to Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation's NBA page.

This Is A Goaltend

Tony Parker yelled at a referee about this, claiming it was a goaltend. By golly, the Frenchie is correct. Ibaka got away with one.

A little tough to tell from this angle, but the vertical angle showed it clearly hit the backboard first.

OKC Riding Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka To Big Lead

This is not a drill: the Oklahoma City Thunder opened up a double-digit lead over the San Antonio Spurs, and Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka are leading the charge. Perkins ad Ibaka have mixed in long jumpers and slam dunks on their way to a combined 23 points on 11-13 shooting. Kevin Durant has scored just two points — just now, on a jump shot — and Russell Westbrook has six, by comparison.

In other news, hey, is the sky bleeding?

Tiago Splitter Is Having A Bad Second Quarter

Spurs big man Tiago Splitter committed a turnover, nearly committed another, and has been punished defensively in the beginning of the second quarter. His combined defense with Boris Diaw (as Tim Duncan gets a breather) has been laughable. Serge Ibaka hit a wide-open jumper, Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden have scored buckets at the rim without much contest. Splitter has been more than passable so far in this series — especially in the Spurs' victories — but he's been an absolute negative in Game 4.

Unsurprisingly, Duncan replaced Splitter after the next timeout.

Kendrick Perkins Sometimes Looks Younger Than 40

On an Oklahoma City team that sometimes looks like it would get carded for trying to buy cigarettes, perma-scowling Kendrick Perkins typically looks like the oldest, angriest man around. Old, angry men can dunk, though!

Perkins set up this transition dunk, on a nice feed from Russell Westbrook, by defending Tim Duncan well at the other end. And it made this guy happy:

Craig Sager May Be In Oklahoma City, But His Tie Is In Hawai'i

Craig Sager's attire is as muted as ever.

NBA Playoffs: Thabo Sefolosha Will Be Key To Thunder's Continued Success

The Oklahoma City Thunder finally managed to secure a win over the San Antonio Spurs in their Western Conference Finals matchup. The Thunder took Game 3 by a decent margin and did so by drastically switching up their game plan to target the Spurs' style of play.

As Tom Spousta of the New York Times points out, one of the keys to the Thunder victory was the matchup between Thabo Sefolosha and Tony Parker. Sefolosha aggressively defended Parker all night and kept the All-Star off-balance. If Sefolosha can keep Parker locked down again in Game 4, Oklahoma City just might be able to even up this series.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich commented on the matchup between Sefolosha and Parker after Game 3:

Q. Coach, there will probably be some talk that Thabo Sefolosha doing well against Parker might become a factor in the series. I just wondered if you would make any changes or if it's just let's go play Game 4?

COACH POPOVICH: I don't know what kind of change as far as Sefolosha's concerned. I don't know. I can ask Scotty not to play him. I don't know how I can change what Sefolosha's going to do. He did a good job. Tony did a good job.

But it's not about Tony, it's about our team. We played much more poorly tonight than we have, and I thought they played fantastic basketball in every way.

The Thunder will definitely need to continue playing "fantastic basketball" if they want to keep their hopes of reaching the NBA Finals alive.

For more on the Spurs, be sure to visit Pounding the Rock; for the Thunder, Welcome to Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation's NBA page.

2012 NBA Playoffs, Thunder Vs. Spurs Game 4: Game Time, TV Schedule And More

The Spurs and Thunder will meet in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday.

NBA Playoffs: Will Spurs Be Able To Rebound From Flat Performance?

The San Antonio Spurs had a pretty impressive winning streak heading into Thursday night's Game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That streak was snapped, and now Spurs' supporters are trying to figure out just went wrong to ruin their undefeated record so deep into the NBA Playoffs.

The prevailing answer, it seems, is that the Thunder came out hungry while the Spurs were flat and never recovered. That isn't all that surprising considering Oklahoma City had the home crowd behind them, but Pounding the Rock's Fred Silva wrote about the San Antonio loss in excruciating detail.

Gregg Popovich called a timeout with 9:11 remaining in the first quarter. Two minutes and forty-nine seconds into Game 3, the Spurs were 0-3 from the field and had committed 4 turnovers. The Thunder were up 8-0 while committing zero turnovers. That was the game. One team showed up and the other did not. It was over within three minutes and we all knew it.

However, none of us wanted to wave the white flag that early in the game. And so we watched. It was painful, but we held onto the hope that the Spurs would win. Who can blame us? We've become accustomed to the type of magic that can make a bad half disappear.

Unfortunately, the bad half turned into a bad third quarter. It wasn't awful; it was simply insurmountable. On the road, a team must play significantly better to withstand the officiating. Instead, the Spurs succumbed to it. It was depressingly difficult to watch.

"Depressingly difficult" was a phrase many believed would describe the Thunder's chances to win the Western Conference finals following the first two games of the series. Heading into the weekend, though -- and another home game for the Thunder -- the momentum seems to be firmly on the side of the Thunder.

For more on the Spurs, be sure to visit Pounding the Rock; for the Thunder, Welcome to Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation's NBA page.

Tony Parker Not Worried About Defensive Matchup With Sefolosha

Following Thursday's Game 3, many pointed to Thabo Sefolosha's play as one of the main reasons for Oklahoma City's win, especially his defense on Tony Parker.

The Thunder primarily used Russell Westbrook to defend Parker during the first two games, but Oklahoma City head coach Scott Brooks switched Sefolosha on Parker in Game 3. During the game, the announcing crew lauded Sefolosha for his defense, and after the game, even Sefolosha noted the change in scheme. "I think switching me to Parker worked out well for us," he said.

It seems everyone is pointing to the new defensive matchup except Parker. During his postgame press conference, Parker downplayed the defensive switch, noting he's seen it before. "OKC put (Sefolosha) on me last year, two years ago," he said. "It's nothing different for me. I just have to find my spots."

Parker's 16 points and four assists in Game 3 were his lowest postseason totals since Game 4 of the Spurs' opening-round series against Utah. Only time will tell if Brooks' defensive tactic was a one-game fluke or enough to turn the series back in Oklahoma City's favor.

For more on the Spurs, be sure to visit Pounding the Rock; for the Thunder, Welcome to Loud City. And for news, analysis and everything else revolving around the NBA Playoffs, be sure to visit SB Nation's NBA page.