The Warriors barely got back, becoming the 10th team to climb out of a 3-1 hole by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-88 on Monday night in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
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Neither a 3-1 series deficit nor a particularly sluggish start in Game 7 at home could keep the Golden State Warriors down.
A 73-win team that was left for dead suddenly has new life and now they will get ready for a rematch in the NBA Finals with a Cleveland Cavaliers team that feels they could have beat them if they were healthy past year.
Things looked good for OKC early in the game as the ball movement was fluid with everyone getting involved. In that time, the Warriors outscored the Thunder by 18 points, shot 46 percent from the field, and had 18 assists and seven turnovers.
The best-of-seven NBA Finals will tip off Thursday night in Oakland.
Curry was spectacular as he always is, leading the way with 36 points and eight assists. But as the Thunder have done so many times this season, they answered with a run of their own to build the lead back up to 12.
(AP Photo/Ben Margot). Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) dribbles against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) and guard Russell Westbrook during the first half of Game 7 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals in Oaklan. Durant finished with 27 points but took only 10 shots in the first three quarters. “We wanted to get a chance to play for a championship in the finals, so that hurts”.
James played in the last NBA Finals rematch, when his Miami Heat outlasted San Antonio in seven games in 2013 but were beaten in five games a year later.
There’s no doubt that Thompson saved the Warriors in Game 6, but Curry was the hero in Game 7. “Having a clutch performance in a Game 7, that’s Steph Curry”, Kerr said.
Fresh off a heartbreaking end to the season, it’s not a surprise that Durant is not looking ahead to a potential new home yet.
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“It hurts losing, especially being up 3 games to 1”, Durant said. “Now that we’ve been through this together for two years going deep in the playoffs. that’s a lot of playoff games”. The Thunder topped the Spurs, a team that would’ve been the best regular-season team in the past 20 years if it weren’t for the Warriors, with whom the Thunder stood toe-to-toe for seven games.
