Mom-inspired Durant fires Thunder into west final

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP):

Coming off his worst performance in the playoffs, Kevin Durant couldn't get his shots to fall again.

Then he caught a glimpse of his mother dancing around during a time-out and, like magic, the ball started going through the net.

Durant scored 39 points for his best offensive outing of the series, Russell Westbrook had his first play-off triple-double, and the Oklahoma City Thunder advanced to the Western Conference finals with a 105-90 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game Seven yesterday.

"I knew she had those dance moves," Durant said. "She used to do it all the time when I was young. She was having fun. I was glad to see that."

two-stepping into Texas

Soon enough, he was having fun, too - and the Thunder are two-stepping into Texas for the franchise's first appearance in the West finals since losing in the NBA finals in 1996 as the Seattle SuperSonics.

Game One against the Mavericks is tomorrow night in Dallas.

Durant, the NBA scoring champion the past two seasons, followed the lowest-scoring game of his two post-season appearances with one of his best. He heated up in the second quarter after the entertaining exchange with his mother, put the Thunder in control late in the third, then put it away with a pair of two-handed slams in the fourth.

"Durant is a special player, one of the best players in the NBA," said Memphis star Zach Randolph, who was limited to an inefficient 17 points and 10 rebounds. "The kid is a gym-rat, he works hard. He's one of my favourite players. You've got to give him kudos and give him respect".