After a less than stellar Game 1 performance against the OKC Thunder, the Golden State Warriors bounced back the only way they know how – in a big way
Beating the Golden State Warriors once is already a challenge. But beating them twice in a row? Nobody in the NBA has done it this year.
In fact, the Warriors haven’t lost two in a row since since last year’s NBA Finals. They were 11-0 this season in games after a loss. You can now make that 12-0.
The Golden State Warriors slaughtered the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 118-91 victory which tied the Western Conference Finals at 1-1. During the regular season, including the playoffs, the Warriors averaged 121 points in all of the games following a loss. Game 2 was no different at all.
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The Thunder were expecting a comeback game from the defending champions and that exactly what they got. Actually, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Thunder got more than what they expected.
What happened exactly in Game 1 was a complete reversal of Game 2. Both teams started out slugging out on the offensive ends. The Warriors were up for most of the first half although the Thunder managed to sneak in and even momentarily took the lead before GSW took it back, for good.
Come the third quarter, the Warriors, under the leadership of Stephen Curry took off and built a double-digit lead that they never relinquished the rest of the game. What changed? Curry scored 17 of his 28 points in the third quarter alone, almost outscoring the entire Oklahoma City team, which scored 19.
That’s a far cry from the Thunder’s 38 points in the third quarter of Game 1. The two-time MVP shot better from the three-point line, finishing the game on a 5 of 8 shooting from downtown. GSW’s bench outscored their counterparts 50- 29, a huge improvement compared to their Game 1 performance.
Overall, the defending champions proved one thing: they can dominate games like this if they play at a high level which enabled to win 73 regular season games.
Even though the Thunder were blown out, again, we can’t just count them out of the series, yet. The next two games will be in Oklahoma City and they will have the crowd behind them. However, they cannot continue their lapses on both ends of the court if they intend to win this series.
Sure, Kevin Durant improved his shot selection in Game 2, making 11 of his 18 shot attempts, good for his 29 points. The problem is, Russell Westbrook continued to struggle with his shots. In Game 2, he just made 5 of his 14 attempts including 1 of 5 from three. He capped off his night with 16 points and 12 assists.
As a team, Oklahoma shot poorly from downtown during the entire game, making only 30 percent of their threes as compared to GSW’s 46 percent. That alone proved to be the nail in the coffin for the Thunder. You don’t allow a team shoot that way from the outside and yet expect a W. No. Especially not against Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
The Thunder can still make a series out of this one. They can still dictate if they will allow the Warriors to advance back to the Finals on schedule or, they will make the defending champions bleed for another Finals slot.
The key in Game 3 and beyond is Russell Westbrook. He needs to take better, smarter shots. Additionally, he needs to assert himself more in the game, offensively, like he did in Game 1.
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He may not be able to contain Curry on the defensive end but, Westbrook can outrun and sometimes, outscore Curry especially when he’s firing on all cylinders. He has always been the heart and soul of the Thunder and once he starts firing, maybe, just maybe, the Thunder can have a shot at an upset.