It’s do or die for both teams in Game 7 but the Warriors will have home court advantage, courtesy of their league leading and recording breaking 73-9 regular season record.
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“The reality is, I think the stat sheet is a really good indicator of how hard our guys played”, Donovan said. “But if we come out and do what we did and stick to the game plan, we’ll be fine”.
Win at home on Saturday and Oklahoma City will advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Stephen Curry turned things over to Klay Thompson, and his Splash Brother delivered.
New Zealand centre Steven Adams made nine points and nine rebounds for OKC, while Aussie Andrew Bogut finished with five points and five rebounds in his 28 minutes for Golden State. “We have another game to play”, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook said.
Trying to become the 10th team to overcome a 3-1 deficit, the Warriors trailed much of the game and were behind by eight going to the fourth quarter.
The deciding factor in this highly-anticipated match up was Golden State’s 21 made three-pointers.
Of the 124 Game 7s played in the history of the National Basketball Association playoffs, home teams have a 110-24 record.
Thompson scored 41 points to help the Warriors tie the series at three each, forcing a Game 7 at Oakland. “They were mostly just kind of playing the way they play”.
Later, after the Thunder had forced a rare miss by Thompson, they threw the ball away.
The Thunder led 23-20 after one quarter, then seized momentum early in the second. Golden State defeated Oklahoma City 108-101.
Indeed, never was Thompson better than down the stretch of this elimination game, punctuating this most impressive individual performance with a 19-point fourth quarter – including 5-of-6 from deep – that pulled the Warriors back from a seven-point deficit.
If you’re looking for an appropriate descriptor of Game 6, “combat” comes to mind.
After Oklahoma City’s Andre Roberson made 1 of 2 from the line, the Thunder led 97-92 with 4:32 left. On Saturday, the Warriors were hoping for more of the same.
Heading into the Warriors first Game 7 at home in 40 years, here’s a look at the possible turning point in the series and what it means for the decisive matchup between these two juggernauts.
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There was some ill will between them, too.
