CHESAPEAKE ENERGY ARENA, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Oklahoma City Thunder, Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
OKC took a 53-48 lead into halftime.
3rd Quarter – Curry Warms Up, Can’t Cut Into The Lead
Klay Thompson started the second half en fuego, as Stephen Curry found him on a catch-and-shoot on the first play…
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…then after Curry drew a charge on the next play by Andre Roberson, Thompson drilled another one on the run, sweeping around Andrew Bogut on the handoff.
Incredibly, the Warriors had the lead, 54-53, early on.
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But Russell Westbrook answered, getting past Draymond Green on the next set.
Klay came back and got the step past Kevin Durant, but missed the layup as he couldn’t decide between a dunk and a lay-in. Westbrook streaked down the court to find Roberson under the hoop, giving OKC a 57-54 lead again.
Bogut then got blocked on a catch on a laser from Curry, by Serge Ibaka, but Green picked Durant’s pocket on the transition attack down the right side of the lane, and Draymond went coast-to-coast for the layup past Ibaka.
Durant got blocked by Bogut, and Andre Iguodala, who had started in place of Harrison Barnes, drew a foul in transition from Roberson.
OKC head coach Billy Donovan took a timeout in between Iguodala’s free throws, where he missed and made.
After Iguodala’s miss, Ibaka missed a three from the right arc, Curry rebounded, and threw a touchdown pass to Green for the dunk…
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…but Durant swished a pick-and-roll with Steven Adams.
Later, after missing a three, Steph drove in, jumped in traffic, but found Draymond on the left wing, who then waited for Curry to curl back around on the strong side for a catch-and-shoot three, and the Warriors were now down 62-61 with 8:02 to play.
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Klay played great off-ball denial defense on Westbrook, preventing a swing pass to him, but Durant drove in and hit a floater.
After Steph missed a runner back-iron, Westbrook motored ahead and Curry fouled him. The free throws put OKC back up, 65-62.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr rolled the dice and inserted Festus Ezeli, but he fouled Adams, then got called for a screen out on a drive by Thompson. Still, Ezeli managed to slam home an alley-oop on a pick-and-roll with Steph.
Curry finds Ezeli for the slam on TNT! #NBARapidReplay #WARRIORSvTHUNDER https://t.co/w61IO9aiQV
— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2016
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Kerr then took out Ezeli for Barnes to go small-ball, and Donovan countered with Enes Kanter as Adams sat down with three fouls. After a Kanter turnover to Iguodala, Klay missed a transition three that would tied the game, Curry got called for a push on the rebound.
Roberson came back in and got a rebound putback of Westbrook’s attack, then Steph crossed over Durant for a bucket, trimming the OKC lead to 70-66 with 5:23 to play as Durant picked up his third.
Steph then pulled up for three after Durant drew a foul on Iguodala and split the pair, but Durant came back with his own three, catching and shooting from the right corner to keep the Warriors at bay, 74-69, with 4:34 to go.
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Klay then committed the Warriors’ 12th turnover, after Steph missed a three from the right wing, but Green drew a charge on Roberson, his 5th foul. Kerr took a timeout, still down five points, with 4:12 left.
Donovan inserted Anthony Morrow and Curry took advantage, getting a step back two over him…
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…then got a layup after Ibaka lost the ball to Green. That brought the Warriors back to within one, 74-73, with 3:27 remaining.
But Westbrook pulled up and drew contact on Shaun Livingston from behind, scoring the jumper, and later, Draymond passed up a cutting Barnes to try and get the ball to Steph, but Westbrook anticipated and intercepted, leading to Durant getting fouled by Green at the other end.
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That was Draymond’s fourth personal and he pleaded to Kerr to let him stay in the game, but Kerr opted for Iguodala.
Westbrook then stripped Bogut and Barnes had to foul him on the other end.
After free throws made it 78-75 OKC, Donovan ordered Hack-A-Bogut and Bogut missed both.
Kanter then got a jumper to drop assisted by Westbrook and Kerr called a timeout as the Thunder inched ahead, 81-75, with 1:55 left.
Curry missed a three, Kanter caught an airball by Morrow, and Livingston couldn’t hit over Kanter. OKC held an 83-75 lead after three periods.
4th Quarter – The Comeback
Durant missed a tough mid range shot to start the 4th quarter. Klay Thompson then splashed a triple to cut the lead to 5.
Thompson knocks down the THREE! ? https://t.co/UoNSgZ2kBS
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 29, 2016
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Speights gave up an offensive foul then he fouled Durant who hit both free throws.
Klay missed a tough lay up, then Adams missed one. Klay Thompson then hit his eighth three pointer.
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Westbrook got two free throws and a mid range to go then Klay Thompson responded with a deep three, his ninth of the game. OKC called timeout with the score 89-84 in OKC’s favour with 8:29 to go.
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OKC came up empty, Bogut missed a push shot then fouled on the second attempt. Ibaka missed a three but then Adams got the rebound and put it back in.
Curry then found Harrison Barnes for the corner three to cut the lead to 4…
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…Westbrook then got a layup to go. Curry missed a three then Green missed the easy putback. Westbrook then miss a shot but on the rebound Green was called for his 5th foul. GSW were over the limit with 5:48 to go and they were down by 6.
Thompson then got a layup in the lane, Durant answered but then Klay Thompson hit a deep three, giving him a playoff record 10 threes.
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Roberson split a pair of free throws then he blocked a Thompson layup. Kerr called timeout with 4:32 left and down by 5.
Draymond Green got to the free throw line but he only converted one of the two. Durant missed a tough runner, then Stephen Curry joined the splash party to cut the lead to 1.
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Westbrook hit two free throws to extend the lead to 3. Iguodala missed a tough three, Durant turned the ball over then Stephen Curry hit another three to tie the game at 99. OKC called timeout with 2:47 to go.
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Roberson put back a Durant miss, Andre Iguodala responded with a big bucket to level the scores.
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Iguodala stripped Westbrook which lead to Klay Thompson hitting his 11th three of the game and the Warriors led by 3.
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Durant missed a three, Curry missed a layup, Westbrook turned the ball over then Klay missed a shot.
Westbrook turned the ball over again then Stephen Curry got the clutch bucket to go over Ibaka to give the Warriors a 5 point lead with 14 seconds to go.
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Curry then steal the ball off of a Westbrook pass and OKC were forced to foul.
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Klay hit two free throws then Barnes deflected the ball to Curry who dribbled the clock out.
FINAL: Warriors (3-3) won 108-101.
Klay Thompson scored 41 points including an NBA record 11 threes in a playoff game. Curry finished with 29-10-9 while Green had 14-12-6-3-1.
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