Oklahoma City Thunder Willed Their Way Passed The Warriors In Game 1

Even when things seemed bleak, the Oklahoma City Thunder willed their way passed the Golden State Warriors in Game 1

Two-time league MVP Stephen Curry was shooting three after three. Russell Westbrook was offensively absent in the first half. The defending champions were up 13 points at intermission.

In the end, it was the Oklahoma City Thunder who came out victorious at Oracle Arena, making it the first time in this year’s playoffs that the Golden State Warriors have dropped a game on their own floor.

And just like that, Oklahoma City Thunder took Game 1 of the best-of-7 Western Conference Finals via a 108-102 come-from-behind victory. While everyone else was expecting that it would be the Warriors against the San Antonio Spurs slugging it out in the WCF, we can all agree that the Warriors-Thunder series will be equally exciting and Game 1 was an exact proof of things to come in Game 2 and beyond.

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Both teams started out struggling with OKC, fresh from their Game 6 disposal of the Spurs, visibly working to keep up with the more rested Warriors.

Russell Westbrook, for one, had a first half to forget as he only made 1 of his 8 attempts from the field. Kevin Durant was better, making 5 of his 11 shot attempts in the first half, all good for 13 points.

Unfortunately, Durant shot even worse in the second half as he only made 5 of his 19 attempts that included a streak of 8 consecutive missed shots. But when OKC needed a basket to ice the victory, Durant delivered.

With 30 seconds to spare and the Thunder only up by three, Durant pulled up and drained a dagger jumper, making it 105-100 at that moment. Durant finished the game with 26 points on 10-30 shooting, including 1-4 from the three-point line.

And yet the Thunder came out victorious.

Despite his shooting woes in the first half, it was Russell Westbrook who energized the Thunder’s comeback beginning in the third quarter where he scored 19 of OKC’s 38 points. For the record, their 38 points in the third quarter alone was a season-worst allowed mark for Golden State and it didn’t end there just yet.

In the 4th quarter, the defending champions only managed to score 14 points as they allowed Durant and company to score 23. In the end, Westbrook had an impressive stat line: 27 points, 12 assists, 7 steals and 6 rebounds.

That’s the kind of stat line any struggling player would prefer over a monstrous numbers but never won the game. However, this is Golden State we’re talking about, a team which won 73 regular season games.