https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKzRbndc664

Serge Ibaka surprised everyone when he announced he was set to return to the Thunder lineup after straining a muscle in his calf in Game Six against the Clippers. He was supposed to be out for the rest of the Playoffs. And his presence was important, to say the least.

Scott Brooks surprised everyone when he opted to bench Thabo Sefolosha in favor of Reggie Jackson. Oklahoma City needed the bolt of energy. It all came together to deliver the Thunder an important win.

Ibaka scored 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting, providing the spark and energy to give the Thunder a 106-97 win. The Spurs could not get in the paint with the ease they did in Games One and Two. Ibaka can change that much with his shotblocking. The Thunder outscored the Spurs in the paint 46-40. A humongous turnaround from the first two games.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points and Russell Westbrook broke out in the third quarter from an early slump to score 26.

Oklahoma City’s defense was the difference however. Ibaka had four blocks and Steven Adams had four more. The Thunder had 10 as a team. The Spurs shot just 39.6 percent from the floor.

They made their 3-pointers in the first half but could not sink them in the second, settling more and more, failing to get to the line and failing to make in-roads in the paint.

Oklahoma City controlled the paint and and controlled the pace. This was their night to show they were still in this series and give the Spurs some questions to answer.

The Pacers wanted home court advantage and subsequently lost it.

The Pacers took a dominant lead in the first quarter and subsequently lost it, turning over the ball and giving the Heat every chance to take control of the game. And if you give the defending champions an inch, Miami will likely take it.

More dialed in on defense, the Heat swarmed and got out on the fast break for what seemed like the first time this series. This was a game played at the Heat’s more break-neck pace. It enabled Dwyane Wade to get into a rhythm through his drives and forays into the paint. He scored 23 points and darted into the lane while balancing it out with a couple 3-pointers.

LeBron James’ overall brilliance — 26 points and seven assists — carried Miami throughout. Then came Ray Allen’s finish. He hit four 3-pointers in the final quarter, propelling the Heat to the 99-87 Game Three victory.

The Pacers did not help themselves, committing 19 turnovers leading to 26 Heat points. They abandoned their pursuit of the paint in the face of the Heat’s swarming, trapping defense. Indiana had just 38 points in the paint despite the sizeable advantage it had early on in the game going to Roy Hibbert and David West and Luis Scola. They seemed to disappear from the pressure.

That is something Indiana should have had solved. Certainly it seemed like the team had some of it figured out in the two games in Indiana. On the road, things are a bit tougher and the Pacers will have to dig deep now to get back homecourt advantage. It is going to take 48 minutes to dethrone the champs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrhede5q4RI

Could this get any easier for San Antonio?

The Thunder put up a good fight, but their defensive shortcomings, particularly in the paint led to another 30-point blowout. The Spurs just seem to bide their time and wear down their Western Conference Finals opponent. At least int he comforts of the AT&T Center.

San Antonio posted 54 point sin the paint in an easy 112-77 win over Oklahoma City. Again, it was a five-point game with about two minutes left in the first half. The Spurs opened things up with a quick run before the half to lead by 12. It was never close after that. Not even close.

Tony Parker scored 22 points. Danny Green had 21. Tim Duncan had 14.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook could not match this time. They each had 15 points. And the Thunder gave in to panic and took quick shots to try to get back in. That only played into San Antonio’s hands.

And that is how you get a rout.

Back to the drawing board for Game Three.

It does not have to be pretty. Wins can be extremely ugly.

So after the Pacers won by quickening the pace it makes the Heat would even the series by slowing things down. Huh?

The Pacers and Heat played each other within 20 points the entire game. No team took more than an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter. LeBron James took over the fourth quarter in a subtle but obvious way. I guess that is really contradictory. This game was full of those.

James finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists, doing a lot of work in the fourth quarter to lead Miami to an 87-83 win in Indiana and a tie in the Eastern Conference Finals. Dwyane Wade did a lot of the heavy lifting offensively with 23 points. It was the Heat’s defense that was the difference this time around as they started flying around and pressuring the Pacers with an urgency that was missing in Game One.

It was not all there though. Miami had to fight to get back into this game and tie the series.

All five Pacers starters scored in double figures with Lance Stephenson scoring 25 points to lead the way. Stephenson was aggressive and took advantage of the moments when the Heat’s defense was lax — including a tip in with 0.1 seconds left to beat the halftime buzzer.

Miami will have to find a way to keep their energy up. That was the big message as the team leaves Indiana. The Pacers are here to play. Miami has to be ready to match them.

Oklahoma City is all Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook at this point. The Spurs? They can have players take turn with the scoring load. It can be Tim Duncan one moment. Then Tony Parker the next. Then Kawhi Leonard took over. Then that killer bench.

The Thunder are down Serge Ibaka and need everyone to pull together. Oklahoma City is still figuring that part out. Now does not seem to be the time to be doing that — it is the Western Conference, after all.

The Spurs were up big, lost the lead and then went up big again for a 122-105 Game One win.

Tim Duncan scored 27 points. Manu Ginobili had 18 points off the bench. Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green each scored 16 points.

Oklahoma City got a consistent 28 points from Kevin Durant and 25 from Russell Westbrook. It was contributions from everyone else that was the problem. Reggie Jackson had 13 points and Derek Fisher had 16 points. No one else seemed to be able to do much else.

When Durant and Westbrook took over in the third quarter and helped Oklahoma City get back into the game and take the lead. Then the Spurs ramped things up again and opened the lead back out. It was clinical as the Spurs usually are.

The Thunder will have to figure things out for Game Two. Not only figuring out how to keep the Spurs out of the paint — 66-32 advantage in points in the paint for the Spurs — but also figuring out how to get others involved and ease the pressure off Durant and Westbrook.