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San Antonio at Oklahoma City
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
THE STORY: After making history with a 20-game winning streak, the San Antonio Spurs will see their season become history if they cannot avoid a fourth consecutive loss to the host Oklahoma City Thunder in Wednesday's Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. The Thunder moved within one win of the NBA Finals with a 108-103 victory in San Antonio on Monday night - giving them a chance to close out the series on their home floor, where they are 7-0 in the playoffs.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE SPURS: In an attempt to slow the Thunder's momentum, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich inserted sixth man Manu Ginobili into the starting lineup for the first time in the playoffs and was rewarded with a game-high 34 points Monday night. The move came with a cost, though. The Spurs' bench was outscored 42-22 and the team committed 21 turnovers, including five apiece by Ginobili and point guard Tony Parker, who has struggled with his shot and has only 12 assists against 11 turnovers since a 34-point effort in Game 2. San Antonio has made two valiant fourth-quarter comebacks in the past two games but it continues to be plagued by a second-quarter malaise, falling behind by double digits in the first half of the past three contests.
ABOUT THE THUNDER: On the verge of blowing a 13-point fourth-quarter lead, reigning Sixth Man of the Year James Harden drilled a long 3-pointer inside of 30 seconds to put the Spurs on the brink of elimination. Oklahoma City has been able to build early double-digit leads in the past two games with minimal contributions from three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant, who had 22 of his 27 points in the second half. Russell Westbrook had a near-disastrous sloppy stretch late in Game 5, but he negated that by scoring 23 points and posting a season-high 12 assists. With Harden averaging 19 points in the series, the Spurs have not been able to match up defensively, one reason why the Thunder are scoring 107.5 points per game in the last four.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Thunder can become the 15th team in NBA history to erase a 2-0 deficit and win a best-of-seven series.
2. After going 50 days without a loss, the Spurs have been beaten three times in five days.
3. San Antonio has never won a playoff series when forced to play a Game 6 on the road. The Spurs won in Dallas in Game 6 in 2006, but proceeded to lose Game 7 at home.