Spurs rout Thunder to steal advantage

Tim Duncan scored 22 points and 12 rebounds and Manu Ginobili scored 19 points as the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 117-89 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green each had 14 points, Boris Diaw added 13 and Tony Parker scored 12 for the Spurs, who are a win away from returning to the NBA Finals after losing in seven games to Miami last year.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points, but Russell Westbrook had only 21 points and seven assists after finishing with 40 points and 10 assists in Game 4.

The up-and-down series continued between the past two Western Conference champions, as the road team has been thumped in every game so far.

San Antonio’s crowd was raucous from the start, booing Westbrook heavily during pregame introductions and erupting joyously when Green scored the team’s first points on a three-pointer 1.5 minutes into the game.

Spurs contain Ibaka

Serge Ibaka, who dominated the interior in Oklahoma City, was held to six points and two rebounds.

The Spurs started Matt Bonner in place of Tiago Splitter to draw Ibaka out of the paint and it worked early.

San Antonio kept Westbrook out of the paint early, but that only opened up the lanes for Jackson, who made his first five shots.

He had four straight layups and then made a three-pointer with Parker closely defending.

Three-point shooting got San Antonio back into the game, as Patty Mills and Green closed the first with consecutive threes to tie the game at 32-all.

Diaw’s three gave San Antonio a 42-37 lead with 6:12 minutes left in the first half and resulted in an Oklahoma City timeout.

Ginobili’s third three gave San Antonio an 87-70 lead with three minutes remaining in the third.

Game 6 is Saturday in Oklahoma City.