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 3 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
OKC held a 72-47 lead at halftime.
[OOPS, NO HIGHLIGHTS, AT LEAST NOT FOR THE WARRIORS!]3rd Quarter – Just Not Into It
Stephen Curry started the third with a jumper, but OKC kept answering and the Warriors weren’t getting any stops. Andre Roberson got a reverse layup, Klay Thompson got a running banker, but Kevin Durant cut and got a nice feed in the paint by Roberson.
Thompson hit a right-elbow triple, but Serge Ibaka answered with a swish from deep on his left wing.
Durant later hit a layup after Klay couldn’t get a shot off before the shotclock buzzer, Harrison Barnes got swatted by Durant, leading to a Russell Westbrook run-out lay-in, Draymond Green posted up the smaller Dion Waiters but threw a half-hearted pass that got stolen and resulted in another layup, this time by Durant.
Thompson back-ironed a catch-and-shoot, then on the other end, got picked as his man, Westbrook, hit an open three on the catch from the right stripe.
Curry tried to answer from the top, but he took a long triple that appeared as if he didn’t really want to shoot, and Waiters hit another jumper, fading away for a swish.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout as OKC went up, 92-59, with 5:41 remaining.
Out of the timeout, Steph manufactured two trips to the line, then after a bad pass by Westbrook, Festus Ezeli found Curry from the left arc for a swish. OKC head coach Billy Donovan immediately called timeout with 4:15 to play, the Thunder’s big lead trimmed to 97-66.
But out of Donovan’s timeout, the onslaught continued as Roberson and Waiters hit threes, then Westbrook hit a pull-up that was answered with a step-back from Curry, but that was answered by a Westbrook layup as he darted past Shaun Livingston.
That gave the Thunder a 109-70 lead with 2:08 to go.
Durant hit a left-elbow jumper, Livingston answered with a bouncer to Brandon Rush for an uncontested slam behind the retreating Thunder defense, and Ibaka surprisingly missed a three at the buzzer, and OKC took a 117-80 lead into the final frame.
The Warriors scored 33 points in the third, but the Thunder tallied 45, outscoring Golden State 29-11 on fast break points.
4th Quarter – Mop-Up Duty
Livingston, Clark, Rush, Barnes, and Marreese Speights came in to do mop-up work, and Speights swished a three, but Clark lost the ball twice on the dribble.
Barnes, however, hit two buckets in a row, Kyle Singler got a jumper to trickle in, which drew a cheer from the OKC crowd, and after Rush took Singler baseline for a layup, Donovan called timeout with 5:54 left, OKC up 125-91.
Livingston, Clark, Rush, Barnes, and Marreese Speights came in to do mop-up work, and Speights swished a three, but Clark lost the ball twice on the dribble.
Barnes, however, hit two buckets in a row, Kyle Singler got a jumper to trickle in, which drew a cheer from the OKC crowd, and after Rush took Singler baseline for a layup, Donovan called timeout with 5:54 left, OKC up 125-91.
To end the nightmare, Leandro Barbosa came in for Livingston and hit a three, plus a driving layup as Speights held down Waiters in the post.
When the carnage was over, the final score was OKC 133, Warriors (1-2) 105.
Green was a -43, Thompson a -41, Curry a -39, and Iguodala a -34. Shocking plus-minus stats.
The Thunder led by as much as 41 points. Not since April of 2012 had the Warriors been down that much. Steph shot 7-for-17, Klay 8-for-19, Draymond 1-for-9, and Andrew Bogut played just 12 minutes, racking up three personals in the first half in those few minutes.
The #SplashBrothers were a combined 5-for-19 from downtown.
Meanwhile, Durant led OKC with 33 points including 12-for-12 from the line, Westbrook added 30 points on 10-for-19 field, Ibaka chipped in 14, and Roberson and Waiters each had 13, with Kanter adding 10 points, 11 rebounds.
Game 4 is in two nights back here at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @mikimichelea)
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