Two nights after the Stephen Curry Show made a stop in Orlando, the Golden State Warriors (52-5) took a trip to Chesapeake Energy Arena to face the Oklahoma City Thunder (41-17).
The Warriors were without Festus Ezeli (knee surgery rehab), but James McAdoo returned to the active list after his toe jam healed, while Kevon Looney was put on the inactive list to make room for McAdoo.
OKC had no injuries to report.
1st Quarter – OKC Onslaught
Curry picked his first personal foul on the first possession as his man, Russell Westbrook, set a pick for Kevin Durant and Steph got called for putting his hand in the cookie jar. Westbrook took the side-out inbound and attacked Curry, getting a leaning lefty layup to drop as Curry took his defense down a notch to avoid another quick foul.
Draymond Green missed a reverse catch from Andrew Bogut, and Steven Adams reset an entry pass back to Durant for a three from the left arc.
Klay Thompson tried to answer with a triple from the right arc after the made basket, in transition, but he missed and Durant attacked a switched Green, found Andre Roberson in the left corner and Roberson drilled the three.
Just like that, OKC was up 8-0 early on, but Green managed to get a lob in traffic to Bogut, who tapped it in, and the Warriors were on the board with 10:26 to go.
After Bogut blocked a Westbrook attack, Curry got switched on by Durant, gave him a shake and a behind-the-back crossover, and drilled the pull-up from beyond the arc to close the gap to 8-5…
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…but Adams made a nice righty hook over Bogut, later got hammered and made one of two free throws, and Durant hit a three from the left wing after Klay’s drive got taken away by Adams:
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Thompson then missed a triple from the left corner and Westbrook quickly attacked the rim and scored, going past both Steph and Klay. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called a timeout as the Thunder took a 16-5 lead with 7:51 remaining.
Out of the timeout, Harrison Barnes missed a stepback from the top, then Thompson missed again from the left wing, and Westbrook attacked in transition once more and found Adams for a layup.
Klay came back with a reverse layup catch fed by Green to break the ice…
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…then after Durant made a catch in the middle and converted down the lane, Thompson hit a dribble-and-pop jumper from the right side, then got fouled on a drive by Serge Ibaka and the Warriors were down 20-11 after the free throws.
Later, Curry missed the first of two free throws after driving past Kyle Singler but getting fouled from behind by Westbrook, but Dion Waiters came off the bench and immediately hit two jumpers in a row, with OKC shooting at a 59% clip from the field.
Andre Iguodala came in and got a left baseline finger roll to drop on a swing of the ball, then a jumper from the same side, but the Thunder kept the momentum in their favor, with Westbrook stealing Curry’s drive, then finishing the play on the other end with a behind-the-back assist to Enes Kanter.
Westbrook, however, missed a three from the top that would have brought the house down, but Curry’s three over Ibaka went short and Ibaka caught a touchdown pass after Steph tried to intercept the pass.
With 2:34 left, the Thunder held a 28-16 lead over the Warriors as OKC head coach Billy Donovan used his first timeout.
Out of the timeout, Leandro Barbosa stole a pass by Durant, got it to Curry, who fed Iguodala for a layup, then Green made this impressive steal of Singler…
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…Steph found himself switched on by Kanter, drove on him, dished out Barbosa, but Barbosa missed an open three. Durant made the Warriors pay with a fade-away in the middle of the lane.
To close out the quarter, Anderson Varejao, who hadn’t taken a shot although he did upfake his defender on more than one occasion, missed this point blank shot…
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…but Randy Foye missed a three for OKC, Curry got the rebound, heaved the ball from three-quarters court, and the ball banked off too hard at the buzzer.
2nd Quarter – Chef Curry Makes A Brief Appearance
The bench unit outscored that of the Thunder’s, as Barnes finally hit a jumper, Barbosa hit one as well, then converted a layup in transition. Iguodala added a layup through the lane from left to right, giving him 10 points on 5-for-6 field.
Durant then lost his dribble, Barnes picked up the loose ball, and Shaun Livingston converted the fast break, and Donovan called a timeout to stop OKC’s bleeding with 8:08 to go and Golden State within two possessions, 36-30:
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Out of the timeout, Chef Curry started cooking, as he hit this three:
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After Green stole a bad pass from Adams, Curry drove the lane and found Marreese Speights for a bucket.
Ibaka answered with a putback of a Westbrook miss, but Steph made a right corner triple over Ibaka, then after Roberson missed a layup corralled by Speights, Curry came down the court, was met by Adams, but scored a deep triple over him:
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Donovan had to call another timeout to stem the tide as Steph brought the Warriors back to a 42-41 deficit with 4:24 remaining.
But out of the timeout, Durant hit a triple over an outstretched Livingston after Adams almost lost the ball deep in the paint and dished it out, and Westbrook took Curry into the paint and scored on the post up. Bogut added a moving screen off the ball on a Curry catch, although Steph missed the shot anyways, then after a timeout, Durant hit two jumpers in a row.
Curry missed, Green rebounded, but Klay missed right after that on a runner attempt, then Green’s swing pass went into Roberson’s hands and Westbrook finished the miscue with a brilliant long-swooping Euro-step on the fast break to give OKC a 55-44 lead.
With 49.8 seconds to play, Steph went past Adams, who got no help…
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…but Westbrook posted up again, this time against Thompson, and found Adams on the catch, just past Bogut.
Curry’s pull-up got blocked by Durant, but Durant missed a pull-up over Green and Ibaka missed the tip-in attempt at the buzzer. Green and Durant exchanged words as both teams headed to the locker room with the Thunder up, 57-46.
Durant led all scorers with 21 points, Westbrook added 14, and the two combined to go 15-for-25. Westbrook also had 7 assists while Ibaka had 8 boards. Curry led the Warriors with 15 points, but Klay was just 2-for-9, 0-for-3 from downtown, and Green had 6 rebounds, 6 assists, but zero points on 0-for-3 field.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @eliriv)
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