The Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors gave us a Western Conference Finals Game 6 Saturday night that lived up to the hype, and then some. The Thunder had a chance to close out a series that nearly nobody had them winning at home, and after a 108-101 Warriors victory, it’ll be going back to Oracle Arena for Game 7 on Monday.
The series has been interesting for a variety of reasons. But with so much uncertainty between Games 2 and 6, things are appearing to be more clear now with the Warriors having a closeout Game 7 at home. In a battle of the two teams who arguably feed off of, and have the best home court advantages in the league, that’s a colossal advantage in the hands of Golden State.
Golden State didn’t play great through the first three quarters. Just as they had in Game 5, the Warriors did just enough to keep themselves in the game, except they never won a quarter in this game until the fourth. Steph Curry, whether you believe he’s 100 percent healthy or not, has not been in rhythm this series. He still wasn’t himself offensively early on, but was able to be useful in other places, gathering seven boards and five assists in the first half.
Golden State has set a franchise record with its 84th win of the season (regular-season and postseason combined).
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) May 29, 2016
Klay Thompson had 16 first half points, and gave the Warriors just enough shots when they needed them in the first half to stay afloat. It seemed early on the plan was to let Thompson do the work offensively, even though he didn’t get off to the best start.
But it was his 19-point fourth quarter, and Andre Iguodala’s defensive presence, that sucked the life out of Chesapeake Energy Arena. Thompson’s performance left fans with stunned looks upon their faces as he knocked down shots that most other players wouldn’t dream of taking in a game, and helped carry the Warriors over the top.
That’s what the Warriors have done all year in their close games. If they are able to stick around just long enough with the game in reach, they can smell it, and they will grasp it. Not to mention, the Thunder haven’t exactly been great in fourth quarters this season. Players and fans in visiting arenas know when it’s happening when the Warriors come to town, and last night was a perfect example of such.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook didn’t have the dominating games that we had seen them have all series, along with the extremely valuable contributions from Dion Waiters, Enes Kanter, and Serge Ibaka. The team that was the most demoralizing in the league, the Warriors, had been out-demoralized by the Thunder in back-to-back games, and it was stunning to watch. But down the stretch in Game 6, Durant and Westbrook could not trust in their teammates, and it resulted in poor offense and poor late-game decisions.
Dominant play is tough to maintain against the Warriors, no matter how off rhythm they may have looked this past week. Simply put, they didn’t win 73 games for no reason. They play team ball, and are able to find ways to win, and that’s a pretty solid formula that has worked for them all season. But at the same time, you’d be crazy to take away from what Oklahoma City has done in this series. Durant and Westbrook have put on one hell of a show, and have reminded everybody about just how exciting they can be when healthy.
There have been 36 teams to lose Game 6 at home with a 3-2 series lead. 12 of those 36 teams came back to win Game 7 pic.twitter.com/d6rHBYdhQi
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 29, 2016
But the most demoralizing team in the league delivered one very demoralizing loss on Saturday night. Oklahoma City was not going to get a better chance of advancing to their first NBA Finals since 2012 than last night. They were just minutes away from crushing Golden State’s dream season, knocking off the league’s first unanimous MVP, and solidifying one of the more impressive playoff runs towards the Finals with series victories over the 67-win San Antonio Spurs and the 73-win Golden State Warriors. Now, they must travel to Oakland and face arguably the most deafening crowd in the NBA at Oracle Arena, with momentum now in the Warriors’ favor.
If you’ve been keeping up with the NBA all season, you probably feel like there’s not a chance in the world that the Thunder walk out of that building with a win on Monday, and they probably won’t. The Warriors hadn’t really had a truly bad stretch of basketball all year, and unfortunately for them (and fans of the game), their worst stretch has come in the most crucial part of their season. But they were able to survive the onslaught brought on by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and force this series to a Game 7 on their home floor. They wouldn’t have it any other way.
No matter the result of Monday’s Game 7, this series has been something that basketball fans won’t forget for a while.
