Serge Ibaka return makes the difference for Thunder
Oklahoma City climb back into contention after power forward provided strong defence, limiting Spurs scoring to 39.6pc
Serge Ibaka returned from injury and sparked the Oklahoma City Thunder to a much-needed 106-97 NBA play-off victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
With the victory, the Thunder climbed back into the best-of-seven Western Conference finals. They now trail 2-1 after the Spurs won the first two games by an average of 26 points.
The Thunder will try to level the series when they host game four on Tuesday night.
Serge is always great in the paint, he blocks shots, he changes shots. He did a fine job
The winners of the series will face either two-time defending NBA champions Miami or Indiana for the NBA crown.
Russell Westbrook scored 26 points with seven assists and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who had 25 points and 10 rebounds from NBA Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant.
But the injection of energy from Ibaka, who missed the first two games of the series with a left calf injury that was expected to sideline him for the rest of the play-offs, was key.
Two days after his injury status was upgraded to day-to-day, Ibaka was inserted into the starting line-up and hit his first five shots from the floor.