They had to come from 3-1 down but Stephen Curry says Golden State Warriors were always sure they would reach the NBA Finals. Donovan said. “Well, they, all of them got a lot better as the year went on”.
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The Golden State Warriors will defend their National Basketball Association championship after completing a remarkable comeback against the Oklahoma City Thunder, taking out Monday’s much-anticipated game seven 96-88.
It’s the most-watched telecast of any kind in TNT’s 28-year history, the network said Tuesday.
3-Point Goals – Oklahoma City 7-27 (Durant 3-7, Ibaka 2-5, Westbrook 2-6, Roberson 0-4, Waiters 0-5), Golden State 17-37 (Curry 7-12, Thompson 6-11, Speights 1-1, Iguodala 1-4, Barnes 1-4, Green 1-5). He wreaked havoc on the Warriors for much of this series, changing shots with his long limbs and leading a Thunder defense that put the NBA’s best regular season team on the brink.
We expected the Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant duo to come up big, but what you didn’t expect was for their role players to do the same. Irving is averaging 24.3 points in the postseason, leading the Cavs until James edged in front of him late in the East finals, and is looking forward to his finals shot after breaking his kneecap late in Game 1 past year.
“They beat us in the three-point line the last two games”. The Cavs can also insert Channing Frye and Matthew Dellavedova and hold their own in a 3-point shootout with Golden State – something Oklahoma City could never do.
“Tonight in Game 7, there was no time to be down on yourself if you miss your first seven”, Thompson said. The Thunder followed that by winning three of the first four games against the Warriors, with a pair of lopsided wins at home.
The last Eastern Conference team to pull off the feat? Eventually, over runs and quarters, the difficulty of those shots took a toll on the Thunder’s offensive efficiency. Klay Thompson added 21 points and six 3s after his playoff-record 11 3s in Game 6 set the stage for Game 7.
“They won a world championship past year, and they’ve broken an NBA record, and people are already talking about it before the playoffs started, this may be the greatest team to ever lace them up in the history of the NBA”, Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “We’ve got to give them credit”. “I’m just embracing my teammates and just reflecting on the season”, Durant said.
Golden State was fighting health issues this time when reigning Most Valuable Player Steph Curry went down with knee and ankle injuries in this postseason. Thompson averaged 13 points in the 2015 finals and could have those opportunities again against small lineups. It didn’t matter that Durant played fantastically in the game, unselfish to start the game and then huge in the fourth quarter when his team needed him most.
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Durant wasn’t in the mood to discuss his future after the 96-88 loss.
