“Russell wanted the basketball more than anyone else on the floor. He had great will,” Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said about Russell Westbrook‘s hustle on the rebound of Serge Ibaka‘s missed jumper and then getting to and pivoting at the three-point line by Westbrook for the win, “We just didn’t go and get the basketball.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder win came down to Westbrook’s hustle over the flat-footed Jermaine O’Neal, who was in the game because Andrew Bogut had fouled out. Westbrook tipped the ball and Thabo Sefalosha blindly saved the ball from going out on the baseline, then Westbrook corralled the loose ball and, with Harrison Barnes in the vicinity, spun away from Barnes and nailed the triple with 0.1 ticks remaining.
Prior to that, Klay Thompson let a deflected ball go out of bounds on the same area of the left baseline, only to the have refs call the ball in favor of OKC. Replays were not enough to overturn the call, and the Thunder got their last chance.
But prior to that, Barnes and Curry played great, with Thompson struggling. Barnes finished with 26 points, a regular season career high, while Curry scored 32 on an array of moves and bank shots that showed he was possibly starting to get into that rhythm. We discussed this in the pregame preview and the question of whether Curry’s rhythm could overcome Kevin Durant while surviving Westbrook breaking out of his slump was answered, although Barnes did a good job of containing Durant, who scored 25 points but on just 7-for-22 from the field.
OKC had the ball ahead 110-106 with regulation coming to a close and Jim Barnett saying on TV that the Warriors absolutely had to get a stop. Sure enough, Barnes got a steal off of Durant outside the three-point line and got to the line on the other end.
Here are some other highlights. From Rusty Simmons of the SF Chronicle:
With David Lee and Klay Thompson struggling, Barnes defended Kevin Durant and took on the secondary scorer role next to Stephen Curry, helping the Warriors force overtime before falling to Oklahoma City 113-112 in front of a thoroughly entertained sellout crowd at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
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Barnes tied a career-high with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting, to go along with four assists in 42 minutes. He started off hot, but his biggest plays of the night came late.
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He recalled some of his playoff breakout by scoring seven of the Warriors’ nine points during a span that gave them a 99-94 lead with 3:45 remaining. Curry put the Warriors ahead 103-102 with a leaning banker at the 1:31 mark, but Serge Ibaka made a pair of free throws for the 16th of 19 lead changes, and Thompson missed a runner at the other end.
Marcus Thompson for the Mercury News:
Up two points and needing a stop, the Warriors got Kevin Durant to miss a floater. But Warriors guard Klay Thompson let the ball roll out of bounds instead of grabbing it. After reviewing the play, the officials deemed the ball went off Thompson, giving the Thunder the ball with 9.4 seconds left.
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Then Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka missed a jumper. It appeared Jermaine O’Neal — in for Andrew Bogut, who fouled out — had the rebound in his hands. Somehow, the ball ended up spilling toward the baseline.
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Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha tracked it down and threw it over his head to save it. The ball went right to Westbrook, whose dagger 3 in the nail-biter in Oakland would have been the game winner if not for Iguodala’s baseline fadeaway. This time, Westbrook didn’t leave any time left.
The Associated Press with the NBA.com recap:
It appeared Barnes’ reverse layup with 45 seconds left would be good enough to get Golden State out with the win, especially after Durant missed a pair of shots in the closing seconds.
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But the Thunder kept pulling down rebounds to create another chance.
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Westbrook took advantage of the final one, falling away as Barnes leapt to defend and drilling his second 3-pointer of the night to give the Thunder the lead.
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The basket was upheld after a review and Durant came down with the ball after a desperation shot as time expired by the Warriors.
Many Warriors fans on Twitter complained about the refs and missed free throws. David Lee missed one late that was crucial.
There was still debate on Twitter as to whether or not Westbrook’s foot was on the line:
Looks like a good 3 to me… RT @DodgingLA: @bballSource there is clearly a toe on the line pic.twitter.com/PrYcI6OL1Q
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) November 30, 2013
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But all in all, the national scene was clamoring for more Warriors-OKC matchups. Here are some retweets from Julie Phayer:
Stephen Curry 3s have the same feeling as a sick poster. The crowd just hushes and mumbles to itself after them.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) November 30, 2013
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Steph Curry makes Serge Ibaka spin GIF http://t.co/hCWTIpAqAm
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) November 30, 2013
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To repeat from two weeks ago: may the basketball gods give us seven games of @okcthunder and @warriors in late May or early June.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) November 30, 2013
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Steph Curry is the most exciting player in the league to watch. LeBron is a freight train, Steph is spinning plates on a unicycle.
— Myles Brown (@mdotbrown) November 30, 2013
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Just replace the entire Atlantic Division with replays of GSW-OKC.
— netw3rk (@netw3rk) November 30, 2013
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Let's get a Kickstarter fund going to guarantee a Golden State-OKC Western Finals. Name your price, NBA.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 30, 2013
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