The Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals crowning them as the Western Conference champions once again and leading them back to the National Basketball Association finals to face the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second straight season.
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Monday’s 96-88 victory against the Thunder came in a Game 7 that proved worthy of the shifts and undulations of this West finals series, a masterpiece that saw the Warriors and Thunder dig in on their strengths and let them play out over 48 loud, tense minutes here at Oracle Arena.
Reiging MVP Steph Curry once again stepped up for the Warriors with 36 points while Klay Thompson added 21 as Golden State advances to the finals to take on the Cavs, the same team it faced in the finals previous year. Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds for the Thunder.
Golden State survived relentless – and at times dominating – opposition from the Thunder to win a third straight game and complete an unlikely climb out of a 3-1 series hole. “I’ll be ready to go and give it everything I’ve got for Game 7”.
“He learned his lesson past year”, Seth Curry said.
Thompson’s record-setting Game 6 performance had propelled the Warriors to a 108-101 win in Oklahoma City that extended this already captivating best-of-seven series and brought it back to Oakland. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson had done most of the heavy lifting, as usual.
The arena was festive after a third quarter in which the Warriors made five three-pointers and outscored the Thunder, 29-12, wiping out the remnants of what had been a 13-point deficit in the second quarter.
“We lost Game 6, and it was a tough, hard-fought game”, Donovan said. “Hopefully it carries over and we can continue with that intensity we’ve had the last three games”. Iguodala made a pretty bounce pass through the paint to Green for Golden States first basket of the game, and his smothering defense on Durant kept the Thunder star without a shot until his 3 at the 5:45 mark in the first.
Oklahoma City’s ball movement helped the maintain their advantage through the second quarter – Durant combining effectively with Enes Kanter on the pick and roll while Dion Waiters penetrated and found open shooters.
In that scenario, Durant could make a projected $228 million over the next six seasons if he stays in Oklahoma City.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said beforehand he was going to make “11 alterations to the gameplan”, one of which was starting Andre Iguodala after a strong showing in Game 6 instead of Harrison Barnes.
“It hurts losing, especially being up 3 games to 1”, Durant said. And, similar to the final minutes of game six in Oklahoma, forcing the Thunder to cough it up on a couple of key possessions.
But heading into tonight’s Game 7 in Oakland, the Warriors, coming off a record-breaking 73-9 season, were once again favorites to knock off the Thunder and face Cleveland in the Finals.
The Warriors came out aggressively in the third quarter, Curry making the Thunder pay for switching as he drained a trio of three-pointers over larger defenders to spark a 15-2 run to lift his team ahead.
Barnes averaged a career-high 11.7 points per game to go along with 4.9 rebounds per game in 2016.
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UC Davis junior Ben Corfee has had trouble nailing down victories in big tournaments, but the 22-year-old won the Memorial Amateur at Ancil Hoffman by five strokes with a final-round 2-over-par 74. Serge Ibaka played another decent game, as he had 16 points.
