The San Antonio Spurs earned their second consecutive presence in the NBA Finals on Saturday night after a 112-107 Overtime win at Oklahoma City Thunder.
With Tony Parker sitting out most of the second-half, it was Boris Diaw who came off the bench to pace the Spurs with 26 points and close the Thunder out in Game 6 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals.
Russell Westbrook finished with a game-high 34 points, and Kevin Durant added 31 for Oklahoma City who paid the price for lacking back-up options, while Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili combined for 32 points for San Antonio,
The Spurs’ bench outscored the Thunder 51-5 with Derek Fisher being the only scorer coming off the bench for Oklahoma City.
Tim Duncan who became extended his record for the most double-double in the NBA history, finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds for San Antonio, who will take on the defending champions Miami in the last season rematch.
“We wanted it badly,” Duncan told TNT sideline reporter.
The Thunder trailed by as many as 12 points in the final quarter, until Durant hit two free-throws to tie the game with a minute in the regulation, though turning the ball over 19 times turned out to be too damaging for an ambitious Thunder team who beat San Antonio in their four regular-season games.
“Hopefully we will be ready this time,” Duncan pointed out when asked about the prospect of facing Miami in the Final.
Both teams moved the ball well with 19 assists apiece, but San Antonio displayed more consistent.
“Boris was fantastic all night long. He was really good in both ends of the court. Without Tony Parker, I thought Cory (Joseph) handled it superbly,” Gregg Popovich told a postgame press conference.
With Oklahoma City dominating the paint area with seven block shots, San Antonio made the most of their three-point efficient – 33 points from behind the arc – to hurt a sellout crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
As a result of their best record in the regular-season, San Antonio will host Miami in Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday night.
