Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) dunks against the Golden State Warriors during the second half in Game 6 of the NBA basketball Western Conference Finals in Oklahoma City, Saturday, May 28, 2016.
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The Thunder were 12 minutes from the NBA Finals – they led by eight after three quarters and by seven with six minutes left.
Watching what Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson did last night in game 6 in Oklahoma City was absolutely remarkable.
The series that deserves a Game 7 will get one Monday night at Oracle. They absolutely needed to go to the wall with the 3-ball to pull this one out, and Thompson and Curry delivered with a historic effort, even for them.
Yes, numerous Warriors’ usual methods and best-laid plans have been blown up by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and at times the mighty 73-win Warriors have looked like they were just making it up as they go. I didn’t even know I had 11 3’s. But they’ve firmly confirmed that.
As the game came to a close and the squad jogged back through the tunnel, Klay was met by the team’s owner, Joe Lacob, bowing repeatedly in admiration.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 29 points but was 10 of 31 from the floor. They were not stressed as in Games 3 and 4 here.
“I felt like we didn’t do a great job coming down the stretch”, Thunder coach Billy Donovan said, “and I think we’ve made such great improvements coming down the stretch in terms of just on both offense and defense of doing a better job of executing and that really wasn’t – hasn’t been us the last month-and-a-half. But it can work in reverse”, Kerr said.
And when Curry came on late, the Golden State Warriors were assured at least one more game in their record-setting season.
Oklahoma City is fueled by trying to reach its first NBA Finals since losing to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in 2012. James and Cleveland are waiting on Monday’s victor.
“It’s going to be a hard game”.
Thompson shattered the previous record of nine made 3-pointers in a playoff game by knocking down 11 3s, and he went 5-of-6 from deep in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors dual NBA MVP Steph Curry was scoreless in the first 15 minutes of the game, but killed off the Thunder’s hopes of a win with two straight three-pointers in the final minutes while the Thunder went scoreless. “The way we played tonight shows who we are”.
Like Curry, Thompson had to string together consecutive moves and fakes off the ball just to get open for a fleeting second.
“We’ve never done it”, Kerr said Sunday of the halftime change.
Yet they never expected it to be easy against the 2015 champs.
“This is what you dream about, getting this opportunity”.
Durant said the Thunder’s morale is still high despite the tough loss. No matter where you play, you’ve still got to play. Durant looked nothing like the killer we’ve seen for much of his career.
The Warriors understandably staged a small celebration at the end of this victory that kept their historic season alive.
From an ankle injury that sidelined him in the first round against Houston to a sprained right knee and puffy elbow, Curry has dealt with his share of pain this postseason.
The Thunder led 23-20 after one quarter, then seized momentum early in the second.
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“I actually kind of like it, because you understand the moment of the playoffs and just kind of gets you going”, he said. “I’ll be ready to go and give it everything I’ve got for Game 7”.
