Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) fights for the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder’s Dion Waiters (3) in the second quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference finals at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Tuesday, May 24, 2016.
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Even though the Warriors have won consecutive Game 6s on the road, [in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals at Memphis and 2015 NBA Finals at Cleveland], figures suggest the Thunder can return to the Finals for the first time since 2012.
If the Warriors are going to survive this series, they need the red line below (a running average of Green’s five most recent games) to start trending back in the positive direction. The Warriors struggled with getting the lead throughout the whole game.
Thompson opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Warriors a 54-53 edge, but the Thunder closed the quarter strong and led 83-75 heading into the fourth. You can’t suppress one part of Green’s game without impacting the other aspects of his presence on the court.
The Warriors had completed their regular season without once suffering back-to-back defeats but that remarkable run rarely looked like continuing as the Thunder led throughout, offering a chance to close out the series in California on Friday afternoon (NZT). Mainly because I know what I’ve been to this team for years now, and I haven’t been that these last two games.
One of my definitions of shaky D is when the opponent seems to want to attack you nearly every time down the court and at times-if Curry is playing Westbrook or Dion Waiters (when Roberson is out of the game)-that has been the case in this series.
After the incident the National Basketball Association opted not to suspend Green for his kick to Adams’ groin, but he was fined $25,000. All that will, all that can, is a return to form from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. I was [expletive] bad. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing something and going out like this”. Curry scored 46 points and tied and National Basketball Association record with 12 3-pointers to help the Warriors beat the Thunder in overtime. The Thunder have been hungrier, sharper and constructed to force the Warriors to adapt to them.
Thompson’s 3 with 1:35 to play put the Warriors up 104-101. “OKC is a tough place to play, but we feel like can play there like we did (in Game 5)”.
“To be in this situation – people were doubting us”, Green said. “We’ve got another game to play”.
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Hence, the Death Lineup got less time in Game 5 than virtually any game this year – 2 minutes, 32 seconds – and 2:28 of that came at the end of the game with the Warriors ahead by six and Kerr recognizing that free-throw efficiency on the floor was a high priority. Green had 14 points and 12 rebounds. He got doubled, saw his pass intercepted and Curry came down on the break to bury a 3-pointer with 2:47 left to tie the score at 99.
