CHESAPEAKE ENERGY ARENA, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Three nights after evening the 2016 Western Conference Finals to 1-1, the Golden State Warriors were at OKC to face the Oklahoma City Thunder for Game 3.
The Warriors were without
1st Quarter – Salvaging
Stephen Curry started the game with a one-footed pull-up on a dribble going from right to left…
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…then both teams traded blows and Klay Thompson managed to drive twice past Steven Adams on upfakes on switches, and from beyond the arc.
Andrew Bogut also picked up two fouls in the first five minutes, Adams blocked a Curry three…
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…and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr didn’t hesitate to go with Andre Iguodala subbing in for Harrison Barnes at the 7:54 mark, even earlier than Game 2’s early yank at 7:32.
Bogut’s first foul came on a Kevin Durant and-one inside after Thompson’s second drive, then Curry missed a wide-open three from the top/right, and Adams came back with a spin against Bogut, drawing Bogut’s second foul.
Festus Ezeli was brought in for Bogut, but couldn’t catch a sling pass on a roll from Klay, but Thompson eventually hit a jumper to make it 14-13, Thunder.
But an Andre Roberson open three from the top ignited an OKC run, and the Thunder got six of the next eight points on transition answers to misses by Ezeli and Klay. Draymond Green also threw a bad pass that led to his foul on a Durant attack in transition.
Curry finally went pick-and-roll with Ezeli and Festus got a slam dunk on the right side to break the drought, with OKC still up, 25-15, but Serge Ibaka hit a three, then after Thompson toilet-bowled a trey attempt from the right corner with no one under the hoop, Ibaka added a dunk assisted by Russell Westbrook, and the Thunder stayed up by double-digits, 30-18.
Klay got a three after Steph missed one from up top, thanks to an offensive rebound by Iguodala, Ezeli made an inside bucket, and Iguodala added a three, then a dunk on a fast break as Waiters missed and Ian Clark got the long rebound.
Iguodala then smothered Westbrook into a bad shot, but Enes Kanter tipped in a miss for OKC, and Curry buried a dagger with a crossover in the right corner over Kanter.
Iguodala got a good look at the quarter buzzer but missed on a catch-and-shoot three, but the Warriors had climbed back to a respectable 34-28 deficit after the first frame.
2nd Quarter – Kick In The Jewels
Iguodala started the second stanza with a three from the right wing, then Clark made a nice curl and dribbled past the OKC defense for a layup to close the gap to just 34-33 with 10:49 remaining.
Barnes hit this three to tie the game at 38-38 with 9:12 to play…
All tied up. @hbarnes #SPLASH on @nbaontnt. pic.twitter.com/EjiXVdapx4
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) May 23, 2016
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…but Waiters hit two buckets in a row, then Green got fouled by Adams and kicked Adams in the groin for the second straight game:
austink: Draymond Green with the nutshot…come on green!!!! #ouch #NBAP… TNT NBA Playoff: … https://t.co/B4sKBKJPxi pic.twitter.com/Z629Ew0wjA
— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) May 23, 2016
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The referees, led by nemesis Scott Foster reviewed the play and called a Flagrant One on Draymond, Green and Adams then both hit their pairs of free throws, but OKC pushed ahead to a 50-42 lead.
It grew to 53-42 after Iguodala fouled Durant from beyond the arc, although Curry quieted the crowd with a pull-up swish inside the arc.
However, Durant got a piece of a Thompson jumper, Westbrook got fouled in the backcourt inexplicably by Anderson Varejao, Curry missed a three that ended with a Westbrook-to-Durant dunk, and Waiters got a huge step past Draymond for an emphatic two-handed slam, forcing Kerr to call a timeout with 3:07 left, down 59-46.
Steph missed a long two out of the timeout, the second time the SplashBrothers had a foot on the line on an attempt, then Curry missed one of two free throws after getting fouled on a reach in by Durant.
Andre Roberson drove past the Warriors defense, Green missed a layup, Durant pulled up from the arc in transition, then after misses by the SplashBrothers from inside the arc, Durant drew free throws on big steps past Iguodala.
Draymond missed again, this time from point-blank and under no duress from the left side of the glass, and Waiters used big steps to get by Green for an emphatic two-handed dunk.
Iguodala hesitated on a three from the left corner, and Westbrook rebounded Roberson’s miss with a power move versus Barnes, drawing the foul as the Warriors were in the penalty.
Klay’s three on a catch was short, then Westbrook pulled up from the center court logo and got fouled by Draymond with 1.3 seconds to go.
Curry was forced to take a three-quarter court shot on the inbound after the three made free throws, and the shot hit rim but was off:
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The lwoman in orange said something to Steph after the shot and he looked back at her.
The Thunder took a whopping 72-47 lead into halftime.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @awarriorscholar)
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