Whatever the reasons, the Warriors got sloppy and paid for it with a 108-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. The Warriors have now completed 6 playoff series spanning back to last season, and 4 of them have featured Golden State wins by 20 or more points.
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The Golden State Warriors shoot the three very well and the Thunder will struggle to contain the Warriors’ shooters in game 1.
Russell Westbrook scored 24 of his 27 in the second half for Oklahoma City, which trailed 60-47 at halftime.
This matchup features the last three MVPs (Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant), six of the last seven scoring champs (Curry, Durant and Russell Westbrook), and five 2016 All-Star selections (Curry, Klay Thompson for GSW, and Durant and Westbrook for OKC).
Steven Adams, in the midst of a breakout postseason, had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks as the Thunder dominated the Warriors on rebounds.
Oklahoma City also might have gotten away with traveling on Westbrook after he halted his dribble and appeared to slide his feet while trying to call a timeout with 17 seconds left.
Westbrook’s shooting numbers weren’t that sterling – he missed 14 of the 21 shots he attempted – but he was effective from the free throw line, hitting 11 of 14 from the free-throw line.
Game 2 is on Wednesday. After putting up a somewhat disengaged 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting in the first half, KD went just 5-of-19 in the second, including an 0-of-8 streak in the fourth quarter.
It will sound weird to say and even hear, but the Thunder may be better suited to try to slow the pace of the game down and make this a half court battle.
Billy Donovan actually outcoached Gregg Popovich in some of the games against San Antonio, and while out coaching could be a bit of an exaggerative term, the quickness in which Donovan will react to lineup changes by the Warriors and especially their efforts to switch from traditional lineups to small ball will be another issue.
“Careless passes, [we] didn’t have the flow to whatever set we were running”, Kerr said about the second half.
While the result against a team coming off a record-breaking 73-9 regular season and with league MVP Stephen Curry in their ranks might have surprised many, Adams wasn’t among them. Curry also contributed with 8 points. Oklahoma City and Golden State had never met in the playoffs before Monday.
Golden State didn’t have it in the second half, as there were too many turnovers, too many fouls and too many missed shots.
Golden State will take this series in six games. The Warriors tallied up 22 fast-break points in the first two quarters.
Oklahoma City Thunder are 1-0 up in a best-of-seven game series. “They’re clicking right now and found a good recipe to beat a tough Spurs team”, said Curry, according to ESPN.
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But with Curry, the Warriors have more than a fighting chance against anyone, no matter what the circumstances or the strategy employed against them.
