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ByCliffBrunt APSportsWriter CliffBruntAP on Twitter OKLAHOMA CITY Russell West- brook had 40 points and 10 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-92 on Tuesday night to tie the West- ern Conference finals at two games apiece. It matched the second-highest playoff point total of Westbrook's career, falling short of the 43 he scored in the 2012 NBA Finals. He also had five rebounds and five steals. "I think I did all right. Coming out with a win is most important," Westbrook said in a postgame in- terview with TNT. "I just try to come out and give maximum effort. My teammates ask that of me and that's what I try to do on both ends of the floor." Kevin Durant added 31 points on 11-for-22 shooting. It was his high- est-scoring game of the series af- ter the NBA's leading scorer was held to a 22.7-point average in the first three games. Serge Ibaka added nine points and eight re- bounds for the Thunder, who have turned around the series since he returned from an injury that was expected to keep him out for the rest of the postseason. Boris Diaw had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Tony Parker added 14 points for the Spurs, who blew a 2-0 lead against the Thunder in this round two years ago and are in danger of doing it again. San Antonio will host Game 5 on Thursday. Oklahoma City dominated for the second consecutive game af- ter getting blown out in the first two. The Thunder committed just seven turnovers and shot 49 per- cent from the field. The Spurs scored the first eight points of the game, but things went downhill from there. A steal and dunk by Westbrook gave the Thun- der a 42-32 lead with just under five minutes left in the first half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Du- rant pushed Oklahoma City's lead to 50-36. The Thunder led 58-43 at half- time. Durant scored 22 points and Westbrook added 17 points, eight assists and four steals before the break. Parker shot 6 of 9 in the first half, but the rest of the Spurs made NBA PLAYOFFS WESTBROOK GETS 40, THUNDER EVEN Durantadds31pointson11-for-22shooting,OklahomaCitytiesseries2-2 SUEOGROCKI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) shoots over San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) in the first quarter of Game 4of the Western Conference finals Tuesday in Oklahoma City. THUNDER105,SPURS92 Up next: Thursday, Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 6p.m. THESCORE The point where the roiling ocean meets the fury of a hur- ricane's winds may hold the key to improving storm inten- sity forecasts — but it's nearly impossible for scientists to see. That may change. HIGH TECH Drones:Thenewesttool for studying hurricanes FULL STORY ON PAGE B6 Red Bluff's Daisy Brose (100 meters) and Corning's Ivan Alvarado (long jump) and Matthew Slimick (pole vault) qualified with at-large spots for Friday's Northern Section track and field championships. TRACK & FIELD At-large list announced for NSCIF finals The 19th California Women's Championship will be held July 14-16at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Must be state resident for six months and handicap no higher than 10.7. Sign-ups at cwcgolf.org. GOLF California Women's Championship July 14 A pregnant woman was stoned to death Tuesday by her own family outside a courthouse in the Pakistani city of Lahore for marrying the man she loved. The woman was killed on her way to court. PAKISTAN Pregnant woman killed in beating by her family FULL STORY ON PAGE B8 DAVID VINCENT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS France's Kristina Mladenovic serves to China's Li Na during a first-round match Tuesday in the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris. By Howard Fendrich AP Tennis Writer HowardFendrich on Twitter PARIS Much to her dismay, Li Na is familiar with this feeling. She earns a Grand Slam champion- ship, is heralded at home, then shows up at subsequent major tournaments and seemingly forgets how to win. Happened in 2011, after her French Open triumph made her China's first player with a Grand Slam singles ti- tle. Happened again Tuesday, when Li was seeded second at Roland Garros but lost to someone ranked 103rd in the first round, not quite four months removed from winning the Austra- lian Open. "I didn't follow the game plan," Li said. "Didn't have any idea how to play." Her 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 exit against Kris- tina Mladenovic of France in front of a partisan crowd on a cloudy, windy Day 3 came about 16 hours after the men's Australian Open champion, third- seeded Stan Wawrinka, was beaten in Paris — making this French Open already unlike any Grand Slam tour- nament in history. It's the first time that the men's and women's singles champions from the previous major lost in the first round. "Nobody say if you (are) No. 2 in the world, you have to win all the matches. I mean, this is tennis," said Li, who works with Carlos Rodriguez, former coach of four-time French Open titlist Justine Henin. For an opening match at a major, the "tension is different," she added. "Always tough to pass the first round." Top players, even the likes of Ra- fael Nadal and Serena Williams, fre- quently talk about being particularly jittery at the start of a Grand Slam tournament, even against clearly out- classed competition. They notice, to be sure, when folks such as Li or Wawrinka depart quickly. "Regardless of what's happened to the other players," said reigning Wim- bledon champion Andy Murray, who won in four sets Tuesday, "I still hoped FRENCH OPEN TENNIS AustralianOpenchampfalls First time champions from previous major both lost in first round CANADIENS 7, RANGERS 4 Series: New York leads series 3-2; Game 6, at New York, 5p.m., Thursday. THESCORE The Associated Press MONTREAL Rene Bourque scored three goals and the Montreal Can- adiens chased goalie Henrik Lun- dqvist and defeated the New York Rangers 7-4 on Tuesday to stave off elimination in the Eastern Con- ference final. The Rangers, who lead the best- of-seven series 3-2, will have an- other chance to earn a trip to the Stanley Cup final in Game 6 on Thursday night in New York. Alex Galchenyuk, Tomas Ple- kanec and Max Pacioretty also scored for Montreal, which out- shot the Rangers 28-27. Derek Stepan, playing with a guard on his helmet to protect a broken jaw suffered from a Bran- don Prust hit in Game 3, returned to the lineup to score twice for the Rangers. Chris Kreider had a goal NHL PLAYOFFS Canadiens surge past Rangers, stay alive By Beth Harris AP Racing Writer Patrice Wolfson is ready to give up her title as the co-owner of the last Triple Crown winner. She will get the chance if Cali- fornia Chrome is successful in his bid to join Affirmed and 10 other horses atop racing's pinnacle. No horse since Affirmed in 1978 has swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Since then, 11 have won the first two legs only to fail in the 1 -mile Belmont, the longest and most gru- eling of the three races that are run over a five-week span. Wolfson and other connections of Triple Crown winners believe this may be the year they get to induct another member into their exclusive club. "You just liketo see a great horse win it and I think he's got the po- tential to be a great horse, so we'll be cheering for him," Wolfson said Tuesday by phone from New York. Wolfson, who owned Affirmed with her late husband Louis, will be at Belmont Park on June 7. She'll HORSE RACING Triple Crown winners ready for new champ TENNIS PAGE 2 TRIPLE PAGE 2 HOCKEY PAGE 2 PLAYOFFS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, May 28, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1