Ibaka receives standing ovation as Thunder win

After missing the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, Serge Ibaka returned on Sunday night to help the Oklahoma City Thunder seal a much-needed 106-97 triumph, keeping their playoffs hope alive.

Ibaka was 6 for 7 from the field, made 3 of his 4 free-throws, blocked four shots, grabbed 7 rebounds en route to 15 points after spending 29.36 minutes running up and down the court.

Midway the third quarter, Ibaka limped for a while, but gestured to Thunder coach Scott Brooks that he was OK to continue.

In the end, the Congolese-born was the difference maker that Oklahoma City needed, as he provided the energy on both ends of the court.

As walked off the floor with 3 minutes remaining and the Thunder were up 20 points, he received a standing ovation from the Chesapeake Energy arena sellout crowd.

Kevin Durant, who finished with 25 points for Oklahoma City said that having Ibaka back was a plus for them: “I gained so much more respect for Serge to put his body out there, and sacrifice his health for the better of the team,” Durant said.

Early in the game, Ibaka proved he was prepared to make an impact, and he could not have a better start as he grabbed the first defense rebound before opening the score with a jump shot, sending the home crowd into frenzy.

As he dominated defensive and offensively, San Antonio shifted their interior offensive plan with Manu Ginobili coming off the bench to make six of his nine three-pointers attempts for a team-high 23 points.

“He was incredible,” Ginobili said of Ibaka. “He started the game hot and we had to adjust. Considering the emotion that he brought to the game. He really helped them.”

With Ibaka replacing Nick Collison in the starting line-up and Reggie Jackson coming on for Thabo Sefolosha, the Thunder were destined to disrupt San Antonio’s so often tough and consistent defense plan.

Jackson scored 15 points, Russell Westbrook finished with a game-high 26 points, and the OKC sealed their eight straight home win over San Antonio, raising their dream of bouncing back in the series.

“Our defense was pretty poor,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich told a postgame press conference, adding: “Serge is always great in the paint. He blocks shots, changes your shots, and he did a fine job.”

After sweeping the Spurs in the regular-season, the Thunder knew a Game 3 loss would basically define their playoffs future, and responded with an efficient 45.7% field goal success against Spurs’ 39.6%.

“I thought the first half was probably the poorest defense we played in a very long time. It was a bad half. It was a miracle that it was a one-point game with 40 seconds to go in the first half. The only thing that kept us on the game was Manu that made those threes,” Popovich went on.

Thunder head coach Scott Brook who seemed somehow demoralized with the news of Ibaka missing the rest of the playoffs, was clearly happier with Ibaka’s decision to help his team: “Serge is a great player, and he has been big part of our success. We won a lot of games and series with him. Obviously we missed him in the first two games, but this is part of the sport. You have to deal with injuries, but we bounced back tonight,” Brooks said.

This was Thunder’s eighth straight home victory against the San Antonio who leads the best-of-seven series 2-1, ahead of Game 4 on Tuesday.