The camera caught Wanda Pratt shaking her groove thing.
But when she saw herself on the big screen inside the Oklahoma City Arena, she kept going. She waved her arms. She pumped her fists.
Kevin Durant hugs his mother Wanda Pratt, as he celebrates a win following game 7 of the NBA basketball Western Conference semifinals between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the OKC Arena in Oklahoma City, Sunday, May 15, 2011. The Thunder beat the Grizzlies 105-90 to advance to the Western Conference finals against Dallas. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
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She didn't shy away from the spotlight.
Like mother, like son.
On an afternoon that Kevin Durant's mom turned Thunder cheerleader and woke up the crowd during a second-quarter timeout — who could resist the Bee Gees' “You Should Be Dancing”? — her son turned Thunder savior and guided Oklahoma City to a series-clinching, seventh-game victory against Memphis and a date with Dallas in the Western Conference Finals.
Thunder 105, Grizzlies 90.
“I knew she had those dance moves,” Durant said of his mom. “She used to do it all the time when I was young. She was having fun.”
Who could blame her?
Her son scored a game-high 39 points, hitting 13 of 25 shots and 9 of 9 free throws. He came up big on the biggest stage of his career.
Durant scored 11 points during a defining third-quarter stretch. With the Thunder leading by only four points midway through the third quarter, Russell Westbrook found Durant for an alley-oop dunk that ignited a 16-5 run.
But Durant was hardly a one-man band Sunday afternoon.
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