Bogut in Flux: The Warriors may have won more games than any team ever, but they also might not have their full squad heading into Game 1 against the Thunder on Monday.
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Kevin Durant’s 26 points and Russell Westbrook’s all-around dominance (plus some shot shooting from Dion Waiters) helped carry the Thunder to the 108-102 win, handing Golden State their first home loss of the playoffs. This series matches teams that averaged 110-plus points in the regular (Golden State – 114.9, Oklahoma City – 110.2) for the first time since Phoenix faced Portland in the 1992 Western Conference Semifinals….
The Thunder hadn’t led since 10-9 midway through the first quarter before Durant buried a 3-pointer and Westbrook a driving hoop in the first 90 seconds of the final period, pushing Oklahoma City into a 90-88 advantage. With the Thunder down 68-58, Westbrook drained a deep 3-pointer to open the floodgates, hit a pair of free throws, and then swished another money ball on back-to-back-to-back possessions to suddenly bring the Thunder within two points.
Though both of Westbrook’s feet kept moving, an obvious traveling violation, he was granted the timeout by lead official Monty McCutcheon with 17.2 seconds left.
Westbrook, after struggling with his shot early on, responded with 15 straight Thunder points in the third quarter to at one point cut the Warriors’ lead to two points. OKC is already showing that kind of resiliency in the Conference Finals, and that doesn’t bode well for the Warriors. The Thunder can surely smell blood, but the Warriors will be doing everything in their power to avoid a once-unfathomable 0-2 deficit.
“We have to be better at being us”, Curry said. Warriors coach Steve Kerr quickly responded with his small ball “death lineup” where Draymond Green is the center. Harrison Barnes had 12 points but none of the other Warriors scored in double digits.
Game Two in the best of seven series takes place in Oakland on Wednesday.
The Thunder outscored the Warriors by 19 in the second half and they survived a poor Kevin Durant (26 points on 10-of-30 field goals) shooting night. “We’ve never lost a Game 1 in this [Steve Kerr] era, so it’s a little something different, but embrace the challenge and get it rolling from here”.
Serge Ibaka The Oklahoma City big man has had somewhat of a let-down season. This is the Warriors’ second consecutive WCF while the Thunder will be playing in their fourth in the last six years. Westbrook had a rough first half, going 1-for-8 with three points, but erupted for 19 in the third quarter. We just got out of character a little bit.
The Warriors extended that lead to 37-24 after bench players Shaun Livingston, Iguodala and Leandro Barbosa led a 10-3 run to start the second quarter.
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Not only that, but Westbrook added 7 steals. But it wasn’t enough to cover his seven turnovers, his 1-for-6 shooting in the fourth quarter, his head-scratching decision-making.
