Oklahoma City Thunder: James Harden’s Game 5 clincher
Neither the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs gave up ground on their homecourt through the first four games of the 2012 Western Conference Finals.
Back in San Antonio for Game 5, the layout of the series to that point worked in the Spurs favor in a potential Game 7 at the AT&T Center. For the Thunder to gain the upper hand, a road win was a prerequisite.
In a battle to put the winner a single game from the Finals and the loser one defeat from elimination, OKC built a lead as high as 12 in the fourth before San Antonio mounted a comeback.
A Tim Duncan layup cut the deficit to two with under a minute remaining. The championship-tested veterans against upstarts learning as they go, San Antonio theoretically held an edge over OKC that was playing out as the game wound down.
With the potential fate of their season on the line, the Thunder didn’t turn to three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant. The ball wasn’t in the hands of All-Star Russell Westbrook.
Sixth Man of the Year James Harden was matched up against Kawhi Leonard with the court spaced out and the shot clock dwindling. In a preview of the moves that would ascend him to superstardom, Harden unleashed a step-back 3-pointer that iced the game via a five-point lead.
A road win was the sliver OKC needed to not just take a 3-2 series lead. It was the perfect set up to the Game 6 victory that placed the Thunder in the Finals for the first time ever.