ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Golden State Warriors, Game 5 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
The Warriors took a 58-50 lead into halftime.
3rd Quarter – 6 Turnovers The Only Blemish
OKC got off to a good start as Serge Ibaka swished a right baseline catch-and-shoot, but Klay Thompson answered with a nice lob to Andrew Bogut for a lay-in.
Then Kevin Durant launched a catch-and-shoot triple, and Draymond Green ran into him on the close out, but referee Ken Mauer called a foul and slapped Green with a technical after Green reacted to the call:
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Durant made all four free throws, Bogut took his eye off a Stephen Curry entry bounce pass, and Draymond missed an attack against three Thunder players, throwing his hands up when there was no call. Ibaka swished another jumper and suddenly it was 60-59, Warriors, and head coach Steve Kerr called timeout and had a lengthy conversation with Draymond.
Out of the timeout, Green managed to block Steven Adams twice:
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Then Curry went past Durant with a behind-the-back action, also just enough by Adams:
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But Westbrook hit dribble-and-pops, one of the swishing for three, to keep things close.
Bogut stole the ball from Westbrook, who was at times out of control, and threw a lefty touchdown pass to Green for the and-one, and Draymond seemed to snap out of his three-game funk:
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He then rescued an exhausted Klay from a missed trey with an offensive rebound putback…
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…and the Warriors had a 74-70 lead with 3:48 remaining as Draymond gave his patented flex. Donovan took a timeout.
Later, Roberson got picked by Curry and Green dished to Steph on the right wing for three as Iguodala supplied the off-ball pick, but Durant answered with a catch-and-shoot swish from the right arc via Roberson and over Iguodala, then after Festus Ezeli came in and received a slip pass from Curry to get fouled, hitting both free throws, Steph went iso on the last possession.
But his fatigued dribble went right into Roberson’s hands and Durant scored the race to the other bucket with 7.0 seconds remaining, and OKC had trimmed their deficit to 81-77 after three periods.
4th Quarter – Bench Starts Well, Big 3 Close Out OKC
To start the 4th quarter, Shaun Livingston hit a foul line jumper over Adams to increase the lead to 6.
Warriors played some great defense to start the quarter as Barnes got the steal, gave it up to Iguodala, back to Barnes, pump fake and then back to Andre Iguodala who splashed the three. OKC had to call timeout with 11:02 left in the game.
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Warriors then got a stop, Livingston dribbled to the left corner, found Barnes at the top of the key who made the deep three pointer. The lead was 12 in the favour of the Warriors – the highest of the game.
Durant hit a mid range jumper but then Livingston responded as he hit the post up Shaun-o-matic…
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…Westbrook committed an offensive foul, Iguodala missed a three but then Westbrook hit the tough layup which forced Kerr to call timeout. The score was 91-81 with 9 minutes left and the Warriors up.
After the timeout, Speights got to the free throw line where he made both. Durant missed a jumper from where he had hit a couple of minutes ago, Speights also missed one and then Westbrook hit the tough mid range.
Mo Speights then drove, got into the paint and converted the and one opportunity – Durant was a little bit late on stepping in front to draw the charge. Green then swatted Westbrook’s lay up attempt into the stands and Oracle was a loud as they had been all night.
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Westbrook then drew the foul on Green and hit two free throws. Warriors responded as Andrew Bogut followed up a miss to get the big bucket. Ibaka then hit a three from the left foul line extended.
Iguodala then drove, threw a left handed pass to Klay Thompson in the right corner pocket and Thompson delivered. Westbrook once again hit a tough shot in the lane, Curry hit two free throws and then Ibaka hit another three. The score was 103-93 with just over 5 minutes left.
Curry missed a layup, which he normally converts, then Bogut fouled Durant. After the first free throw, Kerr called timeout. Durant then converted the second one.
Warriors turned the ball over and Durant hit a three in transition to cut the lead to 5, a 8-0 run for OKC. Stephen Curry then drove and got the left hand floater to go and the foul. The lead was back to 8 with four minutes left.
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Durant then got another two free throws to go, then OKC started Hack-A-Bogut. He made one of two. Westbrook and Curry missed shots, Durant missed one then Curry blocked (recorded as a steal) him after getting a second chance opportunity.
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Curry missed a three, Westbrook got to the free throw line where he split a pair. Bogut then checked out with the score 107-101 with 2 and a half minutes left.
Thompson missed a layup, they got the team rebound but with 1.2 seconds on the shot clock, they came up empty. Durant missed then Curry drew Roberson’s 6th and final foul. With the team in the bonus, Curry hit two big free throws.
The score was 109-101 then Stephen Curry took over. He stole the ball off of Durant, his 5th steal of the night. He then held the ball, pumped his chest, took Adams off the dribble and finished the tough lay up. OKC had to call timeout. Curry was hyped, and below you can see him saying “we’re not going home”.
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Curry then hit a free throw as Billy Donovan was called for a technical foul. Durant got an easy dunk as Thompson let him drive past him. Klay Thompson hit two free throws, Barnes fouled Durant on a three point attempt then Curry turned the ball over and Westbrook got an and-one to go to cut the lead to 6 with 40 seconds to go.
He missed the free throw, secured the rebound but then Durant missed a three. Curry hit two free throws, Westbrook and Ibaka missed two shots, Green was fouled and he made two free throws. OKC called timeout with 15.4 seconds left and the Warriors up by 10.
Morrow hit a three, Klay was fouled and he hit both free throws and that was enough to secure the win.
FINAL: Warriors (2-3) won 120-111
Bogut finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks. Curry had 31 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assist, and 5 steals. Klay had 27 points and Green had 11 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 4 blocks.
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