CHESAPEAKE ENERGY ARENA, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Two nights after getting blown out in Game 3 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals, the Golden State Warriors (1-2) were back in OKC to face the Oklahoma City Thunder for Game 4, once again facing a 2-1 deficit on the road in a best-of-seven series, just like last year against Memphis and Cleveland.
Draymond Green escaped a suspension for unintentionally kicking Steven Adams in the groin in the second quarter of Game 3, but James McAdoo (inactive) and Kevon Looney (hip surgery) were not available.
1st Quarter – Dodging A Meteor
The Warriors had to come out and play a perfect start and they did not. After Golden State won the tip, Stephen Curry took a deep left wing three that rimmed off, Andrew Bogut picked up his first foul at the 11:25 mark on the next possession against Steven Adams, then picked up his second personal at the 9:54 mark, having manned up Andre Roberson and playing the roaming “safety” help position on defense.
He was late to a Serge Ibaka catch in the paint, and Ibaka also skied over Draymond Green for an offensive rebound.
To make matters worse, Curry and Harrison Barnes committed two bad pass turnovers, once again under-estimating the length of OKC.
On the bright side, Klay Thompson got this bucket off the dribble…
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…and Barnes this slam from Bogut on a cut:
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But the Thunder got hot, as Ibaka swished a pick-and-roll with Russell Westbrook, with Barnes answering with a really tough one-footed fadeaway over Ibaka in transition:
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Kevin Durant answered that with an indefensible baseline fade, two free throws on a foul by Thompson, another jumper on a baseline inbound from Westbrook, and after Andre Iguodala — who had subbed in for Bogut — missed a cutting reverse too hard off the board with Durant draped over him — Dion Waiters hit a three on the catch in transition.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with 6:57 remaining as OKC scored nine in a row and jumped out to a 15-8 lead.
However, out of the timeout, the landslide continued as Klay missed a three and Durant found Ibaka again for a short jumper.
Durant then picked Curry way outside the arc with his long arm, and fed Westbrook on the break for an easy, uncontested slam.
Green posted up on the left block, only to throw the ball away trying to pass to a cutting Thompson, but Ibaka missed a three, Draymond rebounded, dribbled up, only to get picked from behind by Andre Roberson, and Westbrook eventually hit a triple from the left corner.
The arena was ablaze and Kerr had to burn another timeout with 5:41 to play, with OKC taking a huge 22-8 early lead.
The Warriors finally settled down as Steph made a step-back move out of the timeout for a splash:
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But Roberson scored, then fed Adams inside, and Green threw a lead pass to Festus Ezeli that had no chance of being caught.
But Draymond atoned by deflecting a Westbrook pass, but Curry missed over Durant and Ezeli fouled on the rebound, with the Warriors in the penalty.
The ice finally broke a bit as Ezeli scored on an acrobatic catch for an inside layup, Iguodala made a theft on Durant, and Shaun Livingston scored the runout layup with a righty scoop…
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…and OKC head coach Billy Donovan called his first timeout with 2:41 to go and the Warriors back in business, 28-19.
Durant got a jumper, but after a couple missed from the arc and inside by Curry and some empty possessions on both ends, Ezeli grabbed a miss on a drive by Iguodala, then Steph ended up with getting past Adams on a switch, just enough to find Iguodala for a three from the right corner, which further trimmed the lead to 30-22 with just 1:11 left.
Westbrook threw the ball too high for Adams, Ezeli finished on a roll with Steph, and suddenly Golden State was within two posessions, 30-24, with 52 seconds remaining.
Iguodala then picked Durant again, but Livingston got his outlet deflected by Durant, then the Warriors got it back after Waiters stepped on the sideline for an unforced turnover.
The Warriors took advantage as Ezeli caught an airball by Curry who tried to shoot over Adams but got the launch deflected, then Festus put the ball back in for a reverse layup with 7.3 seconds to play.
Ezeli contributed again as he disrupted Roberson’s drive at the buzzer for a bad miss.
Golden State somehow salvaged the quarter and trailed just 30-26. Durant led all scorers with 8 points and Westbrook had an impressive 6 assists. Meanwhile, Green tallied 3 turnovers already.
2nd Quarter – Russ Pulls Up At Will
Marreese Speights hit his first jumper after two free throws from Durant, but after a Draymond steal as he collided with Enes Kanter, with Klay scoring an athletic finger roll over Waiters, Speights fired a fastball past the Warriors’ bench after Durant missed an attack.
Durant drew his fifth and sixth free throws of the quarter alone on a foul by Green, much to the delight of the OKC crowd, and with 8:45 remaining, Kerr re-inserted Curry.
Right before that, Klay committed his third foul and later showed his frustration:
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Bogut came back in and immediately set a bad screen for yet another foul and turnover, but Westbrook missed too ill-advised shots and Durant threw the ball into the baseline seats.
Steph came back with an alley-oop to Bogut, then after free throws by Westbrook on a dribbling foul by Curry with the Warriors already in the penalty, Bogut scored again on a catch down low from the right bank:
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But Durant hit a catch-and-fade over both Draymond and Iguodala, and Bogut committed his third foul as Steph’s layup in traffic went too hard off glass with Adams boxing out Bogut.
With 6:03 to play, Kerr called timeout as OKC inched ahead, 47-40.
Kerr put Ezeli back in and Iguodala got a two-hand smash on a putback on a missed three by Curry…
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…but after Westbrook lost the ball, Iguodala raced up the court, had a lot bof contact on the layup from the left board, but there was no call:
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Ibaka eventually scored on a tip-in of Durant’s miss.
Steph upfaked Adams for the hit, but missed the first free throw:
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After a Roberson layup, Ezeli got swatted by Ibaka, and Westbrook drove the lane for another layup. Curry missed a lefty scoop, and Robertson got a dunk on a nice feed by Adams, prompting a Kerr timeout as the Thunder bursted ahead, 56-43, with 4:05 left.
Out of the timeout, Donovan order Ezeli immediately hacked, and it was a good strategy. But not only did Ezeli miss his next five free throws on three “Hack-A-Zelis”, but also Curry got picked by Roberson on a drive, but Westbrook lost the ball to Draymond and Curry got a stepback, finally, on a long two from the left wing.
However, Ibaka answered with a swish from deep on a catch from Westbrook, and Donovan had Ezeli fouled again.
After the misses, Kerr countered by hacking Roberson, who missed twice as well, but Speights — who had come in for Ezeli — missed twice inside and Westbrook buried a three with Livingston spinning around the screen, a hand in Westbrook’s face.
That made it 64-46, OKC.
Curry committed his third turnover as he drove inside and left a pass that Speights wasn’t ready for, and on the other end, Waiters found Ibaka deep in the paint for a baby hook.
Steph finally hit a layup with no call on contact, the lefty scoop trickling in, and Speights ended up fouling Ibaka on a slip to the hole.
Green answered with a tip-in of two misses, one of them blocked by Roberson, and Kerr had Roberson hacked again. Luckily for the Warriors, he continued to miss, but Durant stuffed Livingston at the rim on an inside feed by Draymond.
Roberson missed two from the line again, Curry made a stepback with contact again, but no call again as the shot swished through from the deep right arc over Ibaka…
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…but Westbrook, shooting an unconscious 7-for-13, swished a pull up over Klay with just 2.5 seconds to go.
Steph got the inbound and fired from past halfcourt, coming within a yard of the bucket, but at the buzzer, the Thunder had a commanding 72-53 lead.
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