ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after a stunning comeback victory in Oklahoma City to even the series, the Golden State Warriors were back in Oakland to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
The Warriors were without James McAdoo (inactive) and Kevon Looney (left hip surgery).
1st Quarter – Plodding
Andre Iguodala got the start tonight. The game started out at a careful pace, neither team wanting to take a bad shot or make a turnover.
Steven Adams was blocked by Draymond Green on help early, which ended up with Iguodala finding Green on a cut a nice bouncer…
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…but later asserted himself and Andrew Bogut wasn’t quick enough to the spot, with Adams upfaking twice, dunking on the second time.
Green and Russell Westbrook exchanged jumpers, then Draymond missed a three, but after Serge Ibaka missed a triple that Iguodala tipped to Bogut, the Warriors ran a whole of offense, ending up with Adams doubling Curry, Steph flipping to Green, who flipped it back. Curry then launched a three over Adams to cut the deficit to 8-7 with 6:55 remaining:
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Ibaka got an open three on the next possession, Draymond apparently mixed up with Bogut on the close out, but Curry came back with a step-back on the left arc against Westbrook…
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…and, during the next possession, OKC head coach Billy Donovan called a timeout with 6:08 to play, the Thunder up, 11-10.
Out of the timeout, Westbrook missed a jumper, but Curry missed a one-footed fade, and Kevin Durant answered with a pull-up three.
Iguodala and Andre Roberson exchanged missed triples, then the offense got a bit slogged in the left corner, but Bogut finally slipped to the hoop and Curry delivered the assist.
But Durant answered again with a step-back swish over Iguodala from the iso right pinch.
Klay Thompson drew an upfake foul on Adams, but missed the first from the line, and Harrison Barnes replaced Bogut to go “small-ball”.
After Steph took a charge on Dion Waiters, Curry turned the corner on Westbrook and should’ve gotten the “and-one” on the reverse:
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That made it 16-15, OKC, with 3:35 to play.
Ibaka then hit a jumper and after a Klay miss, Westbrook found Durant for a swish from the left arc, and OKC had its separation.
Curry missed a pull-up, then Waiters drew free throws on a foul from behind on Steph, making one of two. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr took a timeout with 2:34 left as OKC maintained a 21-15 lead before the second made free throw by Waiters.
Festus Ezeli came back in and got a dunk from a slip pass from Curry…
Curry + Ezeli execute the pick-and-roll to perfection on @NBAonTNT. #NBARapidReplay #WARRIORSVTHUNDER https://t.co/9oUq1uvMZf
— NBA (@NBA) May 31, 2016
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…the Warriors got some stops, Steph made a tremendous series of dribbles, but missed the pull-up…
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…then Draymond posted up Westbrook, spun in the right block, and dunked it.
Waiters missed an open three, but Ezeli couldn’t fend off Enes Kanter and the Thunder took the ball out of bounds from the baseline, with Durant hitting a fadeaway from it.
Steph dissected the Thunder defense to head to the lane, but missed, and Roberson got the rebound, got met by good defense on the break from Green, and missed right before the buzzer.
2nd Quarter – Klay To The Rescue Again
The Warriors got the second stanza off on the wrong foot as Ezeli threw away an entry pass, Waiters attacked, and found Kanter for an open jumper from the left baseline.
Shaun Livingston got off a clean dribble and pop, but the shot rolled off the rim, and Kanter got another bucket, a reverse layup.
OKC’s defense was stifling, as Thompson drove but got his lefty blocked, then Waiters got fouled and hit one of two free throws.
Marreese Speights finally broke the ice with a three form the right arc, to make it 29-22, Thunder.
After Kanter and Durant missed, Klay inexplicably threw a bad lob entry pass with Kanter on him, and Kanter ended up layup, giving the ball up to Westbrook, then back for the fast break layup.
Green missed a three, and Kanter tipped in a Waiters left elbow jumper to make it 33-22, OKC.
Iguodala got past Westbrook for a dunk attempt, missed, but was fouled from behind, then missed both free throws, and Roberson got a layup the other way and Kerr took a twenty-second timeout with 7:01 remaining, now down 35-23.
Green and Westbrook traded missed triples, and Klay finally got going on a catch-and-shoot trey on the right wing over Adams, assisted by Draymond.
The Warriors got a stop as Roberson was blocked on an inside feed by Adams, but a TV timeout killed that momentum.
But Klay finally broke out of an 0-for-7 mini-slump by drilling a side-step fly-by of Durant, assisted by Curry, and with 5:22 to play, the Warriors got back on track, down 35-28:
Klay Thompson starts the game 0-7 but drills this 3 to break the drought. https://t.co/KnsYJocsjM
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 31, 2016
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Westbrook got a pull-up over Bogut, Iguodala answered with a dunk fed by Green, and Westbrook missed again, Bogut tipped the rebound, and Iguodala found Klay in the left corner to cut the lead to 37-33 with 4:08 to go as Donovan called a timeout:
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But Adams got an inbound from the baseline for a bucket, Green missed an open left corner catch and shoot, and Westbrook attacked the right side and got an “and-one” to go against Bogut, and the momentum swung back in OKC’s favor.
Durant hit a jumper, Adams got fouled by Barnes on a slip to the hoop, and Thompson had to drill another three to break that slide, getting the feed from Barnes after an upfake failed to draw Adams:
Hi there, Klay. https://t.co/djnskJWc7W
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 31, 2016
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Westbrook missed, Draymond forced a jump ball after Adams got another offensive board, won the tip, and Steph faded over Adams at the top for a swish, closing the gap once again to seven points, 45-38.
Barnes got a righty scoop on an attack after Durant made a bad pass, Westbrook missed badly from the top, but Curry was blocked from behind after getting past Ibaka, and Waiters coasted down the floor to find Westbrook for a lefty layup plus touch foul from Green, and with 5.4 seconds to go, OKC went back up, 48-40.
But Steph came back, scissoring through the transition defense after the made free throw, and lofted a lefty banker high off the backboard at the buzzer, and the Warriors held a 48-42 deficit against the Thunder at halftime.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @b.miu.sick)
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