Golden State’s Draymond Green, who kicked Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams in the groin and has become Thunder fans’ No 1 target because of some questionable tactics, struggled on both ends of the floor and finished with six points.
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“We have got a physical team, an athletic team and we tried to use that to the best of our ability”, Westbrook said.
Want the best National Basketball Association bet on the board for FREE tonight? “We have to come back with the same mindset and try and take care of business”.
Oklahoma City won the last meeting this season between these two teams, but the Warriors still lead the head-to-head record over the last 10, 7-3 SU. “We will see what happens”.
Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook said after the game he thought the kick was intentional, noting that Green had made contact in that area with Adams twice over the past two games. The Thunder are, by contrast, healthy, athletic and firing on all cylinders, having just eliminated a Spurs team that was expected to contend for the hardware. “…I think we just did a tremendous job moving the ball, playing together”. The Warriors lost 133-105 on Sunday night, and they had no answer for the Thunder in transition. “If they think it’s on goal…play the game”. Thunder big men Serge Ibaka, Enes Kanter and Steven Adams have limited Bogut to a mere 6 points through the first three games of the series.
A more decisive Durant set the tone, not holding onto the ball when confronted by a crowd of defenders but taking every opportunity to make a strong offensive move before the Warriors could attack him.
The Thunder closed the second quarter on a 32-5 run to seize a 72-47 half-time edge, aided by the Warriors missing 21 of their last 23 first-half shots from the floor.
“That’s more frustrating to me”, Green said. “It was a bad flow out there”. But it’s only that – a statistic that has zero bearing on Game 4.
“Both times, we got blown out in game three, and we responded well, so we have that memory”, Kerr said.
The Warriors have the top-ranked offense this season, averaging 112.7 points per 100 possessions.
Warriors forward Draymond Green was mum when asked about the NBA’s decision to upgrade his flagrant foul and issue a $25,000 fine rather than suspend him for Game 4. “One thing I admire about Kevin is he’s very, very eager to learn and grow and get better”, Donovan said. “He has got a great pain threshold”.
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Warriors coach Steve Kerr offered the Oklahoma City Thunder high praise heading into Game 4 of the Western Conference finals and his team trailing in the series. He even managed to split his legs and the Warriors’ defense at the same time. In their previous 12 losses during the regular season and playoffs, the Warriors have always followed with a victory…. Then I got in the vehicle afterward and my mom [Wanda] was like, ‘You didn’t do s–.
