The stars in the basketball cosmos seemed to align for the Oklahoma City Thunder last Sunday evening in its 106-97 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

After the Spurs essentially dismantled the Thunder in each of the first two games of their Western Conference Finals series, Oklahoma City bounced back to take game three and avoid a catastrophic 0-3 hole.

All the Thunder needed, it turned out, was a home crowd and a little extra motivation. Call it a power Serge.

The rhetoric coming out of OKC’s camp for most of the week was about dealing with the hole in the middle typically filled by Serge Ibaka, who was ruled out of the playoffs with a calf injury suffered in their series-clinching win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Team doctors examined Ibaka and determined that he would be unavailable for whatever remained of Oklahoma City’s season.

"Serge is out,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said after his team’s game one loss. “He's not coming back.” Smiliar words were spoken after game 2, which Oklahoma City lost by 35 points.

However, Ibaka made a miraculous (or well-planned?) and unexpected (or was it concocted?) return to the floor. He immediately made his presence known with a 15-point 4-block performance that was both a statistical and motivational boon for the Thunder, especially in light of the struggles it had had with its defensive interior.

Playing with what was, in effect, a bright neon sign reading "Lane Open: Score At Will," Oklahoma City could not stop the Spurs from getting into the paint. Throughout the first two games, the Thunder had surrendered a total of 120 points in the paint to the unselfish, pass-happy Spurs. Ibaka, who played close to 30 minutes, despite being in severe pain, did so much to discourage the San Antonio's guards from attacking the rim, or made them pay for trying.

"He makes you think twice about going in there," Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook said of his favorite rim protector.

Whether or not his injury status was conceived by Thunder front office personnel, Ibaka’s return paid dividends. He had four momentum-building blocks, all of which inspired his Thunder teammates and the loud Chesapeake Arena crowd. As a result of Ibaka's inside presence (along with his four blocks came multiple shot alterations) the Spurs managed only 40 points from close range and shot under 40% from the field overall, quite the change from games one and two when they put on a veritable offensive clinic against Oklahoma City.

"[Ibaka] put himself out there knowing that he hasn't touched a basketball in a team setting, in a game setting, and who knows?" Brooks said. "It was unknown for all of us, him, myself, the team. But I'm proud of him that he put himself out there and he got rewarded for it, really going out there and doing what he does well."

"When you talk about a teammate, that's everything you want in a teammate,'' Thunder forward Kevin Durant said of Ibaka's performance. "I gained so much more respect for Serge for sacrificing himself for the team. Regardless of what happened tonight, that's something you want beside you.''

Certainly all of this has happened at the most crucial of junctures for Oklahoma City. The team was embarrassed after getting beat up so badly in San Antonio, and falling behind 0-3 was unthinkable. Now, with its first victory under its belt, the Thunder is ready to carry forward. But make no mistake about it, San Antonio is still in the driver's seat in this series.

With the series shifting to Oklahoma City for games three and four, the Spurs knew all they needed was to steal one game on the road, and game four still provides them with just such an opportunity. Further, for Oklahoma City to win the series, it still has to win at least one game in San Antonio. While replicating an outstanding showing like their 112-77 blowout win in game two was unlikely in game three, the Spurs know when they are focused they are tough to handle.

"Hopefully we realize that if we're not intense, not very sharp and don't hustle like crazy, we're not going to win here,'' the Spurs Manu Ginobili said of his team's game three performance. "They showed us reality. Hopefully we react in Game 4 and play a much better game.''

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was disappointed with his team’s attitude and desire in game 3. "The disparity in costless throws [on Sunday] really shows a sign of aggressiveness," he said. "I was very disappointed that we didn't come out with more of a foot-in-the-neck sort of attitude.” Oklahoma City shot 31 costless throws in game 3 compared to just 16 for San Antonio.

As for the Thunder, a win on Sunday has given the team a greater hope. There has been so much talk about the resiliency of this Oklahoma City team, from its comeback series victory over the Spurs two years ago (down 0-2, the Thunder rattled off four straight wins) to overcoming series deficits against both the Memphis Grizzlies and the Clippers in these playoffs. Frankly, the Thunder is a team that feels it is never too far away that it cannot succeed.

"I knew that we were a better team than losing by 30,'' Brooks said. "It's not us. It was us that night, but we're a much better team than that. We bounced back. We always talk about that bounce-back ability and we had that."

Indeed, despite its big win on Sunday, the Thunder still faces a must-win scenario in tonight's game four. If OKC is to ultimately prevail, its guys will need every bit of bounce-back they can muster.