Tony Parker Credits Serge Ibaka’s Scoring for OKC Thunder Win

The San Antonio Spurs did a good job keeping Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook under wraps last night, but that left Serge Ibaka open and he made them pay dearly. The big man scored a season-high 25 points and snatched 17 rebounds, and Tony Parker knows that Serge was the difference in the 107-93 Thunder victory. Per the Express-News: “It wasn’t Durant who led the way toward OKC’s 11th straight victory. Nor was it his running buddy, Russell Westbrook. Serving notice how far they’ve come since the season opener, when Tony Parker beat them at the buzzer in San Antonio, the Thunder were able to cruise against one of the NBA’s best teams without big nights from either All-Star. Serge Ibaka scored a season-high 25 points to go with 17 rebounds and three blocks, while sixth man Kevin Martin threw in 20 points off the bench as the Thunder (20-4) extended the club’s longest winning streak since relocating from Seattle before the 2008-09 season. ‘We were doing a good job slowing down Westbrook and Durant,’ said Parker, whose 14 points equaled Nando De Colo for the team lead. ‘If Ibaka’s going to shoot like that, there’s nothing we can do.’ […] Some of this harkened back to June, and not just because of Ibaka’s dead-aim shooting. Ibaka was 11-for-11 in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, one of the defining performances of that series. Monday, Ibaka buried his first seven shots before finishing 10 of 16 and turning in his first 20-10 game of the season.”