The highlight of the game was MVP Curry who snapped GSW out of the shock of the results of Game 1 by scoring 17 points in the third quarter, ESPN reports.
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The guard was pulled from the stands with a swollen right elbow that looked like the size of a tennis ball, but he said he should be fine.
A back-and-forth battle in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals led to a surprising early-series deficit for the Golden State Warriors.
The veteran sixth man scored seven points in the final 1:47 of the half as Coach Steve Kerr went to the same small lineup that struggled in Game 1.
The Warriors maintained a commanding lead throughout the game, and even led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Sure, Kevin Durant improved his shot selection in Game 2, making 11 of his 18 shot attempts, good for his 29 points. They’ll pass up on open looks just to make an unnecessary pass, and sometimes it’ll result in a bad shot or a turnover. “You know, when you have a pick and roll, try to put a couple bodies on him”, Durant said after the loss. Curry led the way with 28 points and Draymond Green had an excellent game with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.
The Warriors bench accounted for 50 points with Andre Igudala (14 points, 3 steals), Mo Speights (13 points) and Festus Ezili (12 points) helping the National Basketball Association champions regain the momentum. “We let Curry get loose a few times and we need to do a better job in that area”. The Thunder were able to shut down the MVP offensive attacks by Steph Curry and hold on for the win in Game 1 108-102 in Oakland. The momentum is clearly with the Warriors after such a one-sided victory, but I expect the Thunder to bounce back after this lengthy layoff and come out with the narrow win in a high scoring affair.
Head to head, the Thunder are 2-5-1 ATS in the last eight meetings overall and 1-5 ATS in the last six meetings in Golden State.
What happened exactly in Game 1 was a complete reversal of Game 2. During that brief period, Curry was on pace to score over 360 points in a full 48-minute game.
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For the OKC to win games and eventually the series, they have to consistently be dominant on the boards. In Game 2, Westbrook was 2-of-8 against him. Oklahoma City had just five second-chance points.
