OKLAHOMA CITY — The question was a simple one: Could Serge Ibaka play in a basketball game? His leg was painful, yes, but the swelling in his calf, where the blood pooled, had subsided, and he could move around a little bit. More important, he could see that his teammates desperately needed him.

So for Serge Ibaka, it was not really a question at all.

“Well, first of all, when we sign here in the N.B.A., we sign on everything, man,” Ibaka said Monday, the day after his inspiring performance lifted Oklahoma City back into its Western Conference final series with San Antonio, trailing two games to one. “At the end of the day, no matter what happened last night after the game or I get hurt badly, I signed for this. I signed for this. The military, when they go out there to fight, when they sign, they sign for everything. No matter what happened last night, I signed for this. That’s what I get paid for.”

Ibaka grew up in the Republic of Congo, where he played the game on a cracked concrete court with wooden backboards and bent rims. Those lucky enough to have sneakers placed sheets of cardboard over the holes in the soles. Those not so fortunate skittered around in plastic shoes.

Ibaka was one of 18 or 20 children; he is not quite sure how many, since he did not live with all of them. His mother died when he was 8; shortly after that the country descended into civil war, driven in part by turf battles over vast oil reserves.