Suddenly, a second straight title that for so long seemed certain for Golden State is in jeopardy, and the Thunder firmly has the upper hand. They played fast and furious, tallying 22 fastbreak points (to the Warriors’ five) while Durant (23 points, six rebounds) and Westbrook (16 points, seven assists) led the way. Serge Ibaka scored 14 points and looked revitalized at home, Dion Waiters had 13 points. Oklahoma City responded by beating the Spurs in San Antonio 98-97 the next game, and the Thunder eventually took the series 4-2. They obviously won both last season against the Memphis Grizzly’s and Cleveland Cavaliers, but the Thunder may be the toughest task yet.
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In their only regular-season meeting in Oklahoma City, the Warriors needed Steph Curry’s dramatic 37-foot 3-pointer to beat the Thunder 121-118 in overtime. In his first eight playoff games this spring he averaged 13.6 points on 59.7 percent shooting including 18 for 30 on 3-pointers…. However, Game 3 will determine who takes the series lead and gets the momentum moving on; Golden State’s big win in Game 2 showed us more though. Largely unnoticed because of Curry’s 17-point third quarter was the Warriors’ defense.
“Kevin is a great player and is a student of the game and he’s always trying to evolve and get better”, Thunder coach Billy Donovan said.
Green’s performance with the ball against the Thunder is a more pressing concern for the Warriors, however. And as Oklahoma City continued to pour on the pressure to start the second half, pushing its lead to 35 points midway through the third quarter, it soon became clear that a comeback wasn’t coming.
With 5:57 remaining in that second quarter, Green went into the lane against Thunder center Steven Adams. OKC went on to score the final eight points of the half as the Thunder closed the second quarter on a 32-to-7 run after Golden State tied the game at 40-40. So far in the series Klay Thompson has not been as hot from three point land as Warriors fans would of liked him to be but he is still making shots and putting pressure on the Thunder’s backcourt to keep up.
“We got our butts kicked”, Kerr said. The moment they began losing defensive focus in game 2, the floodgates opened and we saw the usual scenes from Warriors games this season.
“I think the Thunder will win because they are my team”. The Thunder took a 72-47 lead into the half. It is very important for the Thunder to win the battle of the boards for this has been their signature of winning games. Despite not even having to play in the fourth quarter, Kevin Durant poured in 33 points (10-15 shooting from the field) and 8 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook had 30 points (10-19 shooting from the field), 12 assists, and 8 rebounds.
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Warriors: Had just one offensive rebound in the first quarter and 10 in the game…. At one point, they were down as much as 41 points. Outscored the Warriors 33-19 at the free-throw line….
