ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after losing Game 1, the Golden State Warriors (0-1) were back home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
The Warriors were without James McAdoo (inactive) and Kevon Looney (left hip surgery). The Thunder were without Josh Huestis and Mitch McGary.
1st Quarter – OKC Hangs On
The Warriors came out focused, even though Stephen Curry missed the opening possession from the deep left wing over Steven Adams.
Andre Roberson made a Euro-step move on Draymond Green and Green made sure not to foul him, while Andrew Bogut got switched on the next OKC possession and closed out all the way on Roberson on the right sideline, forcing a turnover as Roberson stepped on the line.
Klay Thompson hit his first three from the right side, with the shot toilet-bowling in, and after Kevin Durant also lost the ball to Thompson, Klay found Green on a trail and Draymond hit from downtown, then jawed at Adams on the run-back on defense, as Thunder head coach Billy Donovan called an early timeout.
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Out of the timeout, Russell Westbrook hit a quick jumper, then Bogut couldn’t catch two straight passes from Curry, and Kevin Durant scored a layup “and-one” on Green on the ensuing fast break.
Thompson struck back with a triple from the right corner, but the Warriors were still sloppy on the offensive end, with Green losing the ball to Durant, but Westbrook gave it right back with a pass that sailed into the sideline seats:
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Golden State also was hesitant at the rim on entry passes, as Klay didn’t expect a bullet from Steph, and Festus Ezeli and Andre Iguodala — both of whom came in earlier than usual for Bogut and Barnes, respectively — passed up opportunities at the inner circle.
Kerr soon brought Barnes back in for Ezeli after Adams fell down and exited for Enes Kanter, and Curry promptly got switch against Kanter and crossed him over, then buried a triple to go up, 16-12, approaching four minutes:
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Westbrook hit another jumper, banking over Thompson from the left side, out of another timeout, but Curry came back with a driving layup off a pick-and-roll with Green, with the harm on Kanter. After Steph’s free throw, the Warriors were up, 19-14.
Later, Draymond fired a cross-court pass where both Barnes and Curry were heading, at the right wing, but Steph managed to corral it and launch for another three:
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Westbrook and Curry traded misses from distance, then Steph ran into some traffic and threw the ball away, but Dion Waiters was rejected by Green in the paint.
The ball caromed out beyond the OKC arc and Curry found himself caught in Neverland as he was late to the save, but had to leap over the courtside seats because of the momentum:
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The crowd paused for a bit and Steph took some time to get up, but he was okay, although later on, a welt could be seen on his elbow:
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Kerr took a timeout with the Warriors up, 22-16, with 2:54 remaining.
Out of the timeout, Green had butter fingers in the lane, forcing a jump ball against Kanter, but he won the tip, then hit a catch-and-shoot triple from the right arc…
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…glaring at Kanter while running back on defense:
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Iguodala played tremendous one-on-one defense on Durant, knocking the ball out on a left drive, off Durant’s leg…
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…and with 27.3 seconds to play, Kerr re-inserted Curry and Thompson for the final possession.
Steph got the crossover past Adams on the switch at the perimeter, then got a righty scoop to drop, in traffic, high-stepping in from right to left:
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Randy Foye missed a three from the left wing with Klay closing fast at the buzzer, and the Warriors owned a 27-20 first quarter lead.
2nd Quarter – Late Surge
The bench unit held up their end of the bargain, as Leandro Barbosa got a layup and a steal and, although Marreese Speights couldn’t catch a driving feed from Shaun Livingston, Speights got a scoop of his own miss, plus a baseline jumper to drop.
Barnes added an attack over Kanter, and the Warriors had their biggest lead, 35-26, early.
But Durant hit two threes in a row and Kerr had to call a timeout to stop the immediate bleeding, with OKC cutting the lead to 35-32 with 8:08 to go.
Out of the timeout, Barnes went iso again, this time against Adams for a banker, but Durant answered again with a stop-and-pop, while Klay lobbed to Bogut for a skillful put-in and Green attacked the rim against Adams:
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After another timeout, OKC got hot, with Serge Ibaka hitting a three, Durant a fade, which forced another timeout by Kerr, a three pulled by Westbrook, and a corner triple by Waiters.
But Ezeli slammed home a missed trey by Klay…
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…Iguodala induced three free throws on Ibaka from the right corner, hitting all three free throws, and Golden State held a 49-47 lead with 1:47 left.
Westbrook found Durant on an alley-oop with Draymond just a hair too late, Green answered with a feed inside to Ezeli for a layup as Ezeli waited for bodies to fly by, and Waiters missed a reverse layup short, then Thompson got a long two in transition as a result.
Iguodala stole a pass from Westbrook, then on the break, Curry’s pass was deflected and the ball found its way to Iguodala on the right wing in stride. He leapt, Westbrook flew by, gave contact, and Iguodala double-clutch for the swooping scoop, with the whistle:
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However, he missed the free throw, but the Warriors were now up, 55-49, with 39.5 seconds remaining.
Westbrook came down and airballed a “two-for-one” straightaway three, Steph made a swing pass to Green, and Draymond delivered a beautiful bounce pass to a cutting Iguodala for the slam:
Experience Draymond Green's sweet pass to Andre Iguodala powered by #Intel 360 replay technology.https://t.co/D4sbozkZEY
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 19, 2016
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Durant was doubled, Westbrook took a three and missed badly again, with Thompson converging, and screamed for the foul that wasn’t called.
Golden State took a 57-49 lead into halftime.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via NBAE/Getty)
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