Oklahoma City Thunder Complete Turnaround for the Ages, Advance to NBA Finals

By: Stephen Patterson

The Oklahoma City Thunder awoke last Wednesday finding themselves staring at an 0-2 deficit in the Western Conference Finals against a San Antonio Spurs team that had just won their 20th game in a row the night before.

Something clearly happened to Thunder after that Game 2 defeat, in which the Spurs won 120-111 and seemed able to find any shot that they desired against the Oklahoma City defense.

Maybe it was the fact they were headed back home to the Chesapeake Energy Arena for the next two games of the series, complete with their rabid fan base that held faith in their team despite the seemingly impossible task looming ahead.

Or perhaps Scott Brooks spoke to the team on the flight back to OKC and reminded them of just how talented they have been this season and that they could beat this Spurs team and still earn the franchises' first trip to the NBA Finals since 1996, back when the team was still the Seattle Supersonics.

Regardless of what it was that caused the spark, the fire definitely spread quickly.

Last night, the Thunder finished off the Spurs in Game 6 with a 107-99 victory, winning their fourth consecutive game over them after halting San Antonio's winning streak in Game 3 and completing one of the greatest turnarounds in NBA playoff history.

The Thunder found themselves in a huge hole early in the game, trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half and by 15 points at halftime, however, they fought their way back just as they have all series long.

Three-time league scoring champion Kevin Durant led the charge in the victory, scoring 34 points while also grabbing 14 rebounds. He played the entire 48 minutes of the game for the first time all-season and also for the first time in his postseason career.

Russell Westbrook contributed 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, while reigning Sixth-Man of the Year James Harden added 16 points off the bench for the Thunder.

San Antonio definitely put up a fight before finally running out of steam late in the game.

Tony Parker lead the way for the Spurs with 29 points and 12 assists, and although he had a dominant first half with 21 points and 10 assists, highlighted by 17 points and 5 assists in the first quarter, he was largely ineffective when it mattered the most.

Tim Duncan scored 25 points and had 14 rebounds while Stephen Jackson, who shot 6-7 from three-point range, finished with 23 points off the bench.

Manu Ginobili, who had a monster 35 point performance in Game 5 and was averaging 20.2 in the series heading into Game 6, was largely ineffective in the loss, finishing with only 10 points.

Oklahoma City is 12-3 so far this postseason after knocking off the Dallas Mavericks (4-0), Los Angeles Lakers (4-1), and San Antonio Spurs (4-2). Those three teams had been the only representatives from the Western Conference in the NBA Finals since 1998.

The Thunder will meet either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat in the Finals, which begins on Tuesday.

Oklahoma City was 2-0 against the Celtics in the regular season and 1-1 against the Heat.

With the Thunder holding home court advantage in the Finals, whichever team comes out of the Eastern Conference will have a tough task in Game 1 against a rested OKC team that is 8-0 on the home court this postseason.