The Oklahoma City Thunder are fighting mad, and more NBA play-off takeaways

Russell Westbrook stepped up big after Kevin Durant was ejected. Meanwhile, Indiana, Charlotte and Portland all pulled their series a bit closer.

Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder celebrates a three-point shot against the Dallas Mavericks during game four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2016 NBA Playoffs at American Show more

Throughout the NBA play-offs, The National's resident NBA dudes Jonathan Raymond and Kevin Jeffers will be breaking down the key talking points of the night before. Below, the takeaways from Saturday night's action in the 2016 post-season.

• Read more: 2016 NBA play-offs: Previews, predictions and what we learned day-by-day

Saturday’s scores

• Indiana Pacers 100, Toronto Raptors 83

• Charlotte Hornets 96, Miami Heat 80

• Oklahoma City Thunder 119, Dallas Mavericks 108

• Portland Trail Blazers 96, Los Angeles Clippers 88

Angry smiles all around

Typically when the best team in a play-off series loses its best player, it’s an opportunity for the other team to pull the upset. Typical conventions don’t apply to a team with two top-5 superstars, however.

With Kevin Durant ejected for a flagrant 2 foul late in Saturday night’s Oklahoma City-Dallas Game 4, Russell Westbrook took over with his usual (by his standards) all-around hero-ball, to the tune of 25 points, 5 rebounds and 15 assists. It was enough to give OKC the 119-108 win and a 3-1 series lead over the Mavericks.

Durant’s ejection is the apex of what has proved to be a fairly testy series. There was a second-quarter set of technicals on both teams when Salah Mejri got tied up in a scuffle with Westbrook and Anthony Morrow. It’s been chippy and physical throughout the four games, which is just the type of atmosphere the fiery Westbrook thrives in.

And with Durant out and the Thunder letting a big lead slip, Westbrook sure thrived. He scored 22 of his 25 in the fourth quarter, basically turning the energetic Dallas crowd into his own fuel, doing so with his trademark, angry scowl that he later told ESPN was his version of “fun”.

When Westbrook plays mad, he’s as dangerous a force as anyone in the league. And in this first-round series, he’s had plenty of reason to stay mad.

Raptors own worst enemy

Toronto just can’t get out of their own way. What should’ve been a first-round cake walk has instead turned into the Raptors fighting for their play-off lives, and leaving a franchise-record best regular season far in the rear-view.f

Indiana evened up the series 2-2 in dominating fashion Saturday with a total team effort, a far cry from dominating Game 2 and 3 Raptors wins. Never forget: momentum is a lie.

The best sign for the Pacers was that Paul George didn’t have to do it all by himself. Indiana moved the ball the best it has all series and the Raptors’ defence looked lost as supporting players George Hill and Ian Mahinmi scored 22 points apiece.

It was a lethargic loss for Toronto, who blew a chance to put a stranglehold on the series. Now it’ll go at least 6, and Toronto’s play-off streak of futility is in danger of continuing.

Unfamiliar feeling in Charlotte

In the 14 years since the Hornets last won a play-off game, the team has changed its name twice, played in New Orleans for a time, and the home city had a team called the Bobcats that were really, really bad.

One win wipes that all away, and puts the 6-seed Hornets back in the series against the No. 3 Miami Heat.

Jeremy Lin and Kemba Walker came up big for Charlotte in Saturday’s 96-80 win, but so did Marvin Williams, who had been persona non grata in the first two losses in Miami. Williams had 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Miami’s hot shooting cooled off to only 34 percent shooting, which Charlotte shouldn’t count on again. But the teams won the same number of games in the regular season, so this was never going to be a series dominated by one team.

If nothing else, Charlotte can start anew following such a long run of putrid play-off performances.

A most improved performance

And yet another series won’t be a sweep, as the Portland Trail Blazers rode recently named Most Improved Player CJ McCollum to a win at home over the Clippers, who still lead the series 2-1.

McCollum’s 27 points and Damian Lillard’s 32 were a much closer facsimile of the dominant backcourt-led offence from the regular season than the listless one that averaged a mere 88 points in the first two games in Los Angeles.

Chris Paul kept the Clippers in it with 26 points and helped them pull to within 1 with 6:26 left, but the Clippers never got closer, and now they have a fight on their hands.

Tonight’s games

• San Antonio at Memphis Game 4, 9 pm • Spurs lead 3-0

• Golden State at Houston Game 4, 11:30 pm • Warriors lead 2-1

• Atlanta at Boston, Game 4, 2 am • Hawks lead 2-1

• Cleveland at Detroit, Game 4, 4:30 am • Cavaliers lead 3-0

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport