Thunder’s confidence keeps growing
Only 15 teams in NBA history have overcome a 2-0 deficit to win a playoff series. Oklahoma City hasn’t done that yet, but a series that once seemed lopsided is tied 2-2.
“When we lost our first two games, our guys did not get down on themselves,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “We knew they did a great job protecting their home court, and we have to do the same.”
The momentum is suddenly with the Thunder. Saturday night’s 109-103 victory at Chesapeake Arena has Oklahoma City feeling good about its chances as the scene shifts back to San Antonio for Game 5 of the Western Conference final Monday.
“We know this is only one step closer,” said Kevin Durant, who scored a game-high 36 on Saturday night. “As people said, we did what we were supposed to do by winning at home. So we’ve just got to go down there with the mindset that we’re going to play hard every possession, play together like we’ve been playing these last few games, and we’ll see what happens.
“We’ve just got to keep believing, man. We’ll be fine.”
That’s a feeling shared throughout the Thunder locker room. Oklahoma City has done what Utah and the Los Angeles Clippers couldn’t do in the first two rounds — win a game against the Spurs. Now the West finals are down to a best-of-3.
“It means everything,” James Harden said. “Everybody thought it was over because they hadn’t lost. We tied the series up. We both won on our home courts, so now we have to do a good job of locking in beginning in Game 5 and try to win the game.”
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