The Oklahoma City Thunder steal game 5

What the Thunder were able to do in San Antonio against the Spurs in a very pivotal game 5 was just brilliant. Ever since going down 2-0, Scott Brooks and his players have made an incredible turn around. This is a new team led by none other then Kevin Durant and he came up big last night scoring 27 points. He did get off to a slow start having only five points at half but he came to play in the second half driving hard to lane, creating shots, and hitting shots off the screen. San Antonio had a hard time stopping him and Harden, which prevented them from capping off their comeback.
The big three for the Spurs each had a great game themselves combining for 72 points and at times Manu Ginobli looked unstoppable. He scored 13 points in a row including 3-4 on three pointers. But their Achilles heal was not getting much from the bench and struggling to make defensive stops. The Spurs bench only scored 22 points and Stephen Jackson had 13. Lack of productivity off the bench has been a concern for the past three games but the Thunder also deserve credit for preventing this. They are rotating defensively at a very high level. There are times where they do give up the open shot but the way they move around the court has greatly improved. Tim Duncan who played very well finished with18 and12 while Tony Parker finished with 20 points.
Shooting wise the Thunder have been fabulous. Shooting 56% in game four and 50% in game five. The Spurs which were so successful in getting the Thunder out of their rhythm have now lost that edge, the little dose of ''nasty'' that Spurs coach Popovich wanted in game two seems to have disappeared.
The fourth quarter was one for the ages as both the Thunder and the Spurs battled desperately trying take a 3-2 series lead. The Thunder had the edge going into the fourth quarter as they ended the quarter on a 9-0 run.Then with 5:07 left, Oklahoma City was up by 13 but then the Spurs came roaring back getting within two with just over one minute left. Russel Westbrook was a major reason for this run as he turned the ball over three times and bringing the total to 16 turnovers.The last minute however was the Harden show as he put the dagger in the Spurs on a three point rainbow over Kawhi Leanord. He had 12 in the fourth quarter and finished with 20. Westbrook had 23 points. The Oklahoma City big three played very well doing what they do best. Scoring and creating havoc for opposing defenses.
Overall the Thunder have been great these past three games. It is amazing how they have found flaws in a Spurs team that had previously won 20 games in a row. People even began about talking about them going undefeated in the playoffs so major props to Scott Brooks and his team for making the adjustments.Game 6 is now a must win. This will be their best chance to close out this series at home where they have been spectacular this year. The defense needs to stay aggressive preventing the Spurs from getting into their rhythm and the offense needs to move the ball around and continue to be aggressive.Other players need to step up as well such as Ibaka, Fisher, and Sefolosha. It is clear that this team has matured and have confidence which is why I think the Thunder will reach their first final winning in a close game 95-90.