The Golden State Warriors silenced their doubters and the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday night, pulling off a late 116-108 home victory at Oracle Arena in a hyped-up Western Conference matchup. It may not have been Stephen Curry's night, but he was able to overcome tough defense by OKC's Russell Westbrook to lead his team with 26 points and 10 assists on 10-25 shooting.
Quick Stats
Westbrook and superstar compatriot Kevin Durant were firing all night except down the stretch, hitting a dry spell over the final portions of the fourth quarter. The duo combined for 67 points in the game but failed to sink their shots in the final half of the fourth. The Thunder's comeback was quickly thwarted by the Warriors, who went on a 12-4 run to close out the game after Oklahoma City tied up the game at 104 with 3:36 remaining.
Durant finished with 40 points and 14 boards to go along with Westbrook's 27 points and 12 assists. Enes Kanter added 14 points and 15 rebounds in addition while Serge Ibaka had 12 and 8.
For Golden State, Harrison Barnes had 19 points, Klay Thompson had 18, and Draymond Green scored nine and grabbed 14 rebounds. Marreese Speights had 15 off the bench to go along with Shaun Livingston's 10.
First Quarter: Warriors 36, Thunder 31
Oklahoma City started this heavily-anticipated bout on a 9-0 run, Westbrook hitting Steven Adams for an alley-oop for the opening score and Durant following a Westbrook triple with two buckets of his own. Barnes recorded four of Golden State's first six buckets to bring the Warriors back to within three points, cutting the deficit to 16-13 four-and-a-half minutes into the game.
The Thunder held its lead until the 2:55 mark of the first, when a Speights fadeaway tied up the game at 29. A drive-and-score by Leandro Barbosa gave the Warriors their first lead of the game on the next possession, and the team closed the quarter up 36-31.
Second Quarter: Warriors 37, Thunder 28
Golden State carried their momentum through to quarter two, jumping out to a big 60-40 lead, their biggest of the game, with 4:44 to go in the half. KD helped the Thunder claw back, scoring 10 minutes from then until the end of the period. The Warriors finished the half up 14, 73-59.
Third Quarter: Thunder 24, Warriors 18
OKC totally switched up their game to start the second half, stepping it up on defense as they held the Warriors to a season-low third quarter of just 18 points. But Golden State also stepped up their game on the defensive half, protecting their lead to be up 85-69 with under five minutes to go in the third.
A 14-6 Oklahoma City run put the score headed into the final quarter at 91-83, with the Thunder just within reach of the Warriors' lead. And they wouldn't give up.
Fourth Quarter: Thunder 25, Warriors 25
The two sides traded buckets the first five minutes of the quarter, Enes Kanter holding up the Thunder's end as both teams' stars struggled from the field. A Durant trifecta lowered the lead to just four at 99-95 with 6:11 left, and two minutes later, the Warriors' lead fell to just one, as Durant scored five more straight points to bring it to 103-102.
A Kanter turnaround tied the game up at 104, but that was the last glance the Thunder had at a potential victory. Steph Curry finally found his stroke, hitting three jumpers down the stretch to go with a Klay Thompson three to close out the game.
Oklahoma City went to their classic isolation offense down the stretch, and with Durant and Westbrook ice cold, it backfired, as the team failed to mount any valid resistance, surrendering the final points without anything to show for on the other side of the court.
Standings
Both teams remain atop their divisions while the Warriors improve to 46-4, extending their home winning streak to 41 games, the second longest of its kind in NBA history. OKC falls to 38-14, holding their four-game lead over the Los Angeles Clippers for the third seed in the Western Conference.