For just the 10th time in NBA history, a team has rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win a series. It is the first time since 1981 that it has been done in a Conference Finals series, and the fact it was done by the 73-win Golden State Warriors should surprise no one. The Warriors used the three-ball to decimate the Oklahoma City Thunder at home, winning Game 7 by a count of 96-88.
Oklahoma City did a lot of things right in Game 7. And by that, it would even be easy to make the assertion that the Thunder outplayed the Warriors in most facets of the game. Except that pesky three ball. The Warriors got it roasting from downtown in the third quarter which was the defining difference in Game 7.
Oklahoma City certainly re-stamped its ticket as a contender. After knocking off the San Antonio Spurs in the Western semis, few figured that it was any sign that OKC could give the Dubs this kind of series. But Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant reminded everyone just how good they can be. Unfortunately for the Thunder, that good was just not good enough.
Let us take a look at the keys to the Warriors’ Game 7 victory:
1) Oracle Arena provided the boost that it should for a home game 7
The Golden State Warriors finished the regular season 39-2 at home and Oracle Arena is universally known as the loudest and toughest venue to play in. The home team has won 101 of 125 Game 7s and this followed the 80 percent rule of that statistic.
The home crowd was engaged and pushed its team when the Thunder made runs. The Warriors seemed to have an extra bounce in their collective step, and that is what homecourt really is: encouragement and rallying to overcome the tough moments of a pressure packed game. Well done, Bay Area.
2) The Splash brothers were more powerful than the Stash Brothers
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson came out and really outplayed Steven Adams and Enes Kanter.
Okay, so that was not really that funny: but the “Splash Brothers” did come alive when the Warriors needed them to. They pounced in the third quarter as Golden State outscored the Thunder 29-12. And while they may outplay the Stash Brothers regularly, they most importantly out-played the Thunder's star tandem.
The Warriors seized the lead on a Curry three at the mid-quarter mark, and Golden State finished the quarter on a 15-2 run which more or less locked up the game. Though the Thunder were down by “just 11” going into the fourth, an 11-point deficit against Golden State seems so much more demoralizing. The Warriors hit 17 of 37 from three-point range in the game and Curry and Thompson were a combined 13 of 23.
OKC did a lot of things right in this game. The Thunder held a +1 advantage on the boards and had a +5 advantage in the first half when they led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter.
OKC had just seven turnovers in the game, and Westbrook had 13 of the Thunders’ 20 assists with just three of the seven turnovers. The Thunder appeared to be the better team for one-half of basketball, but the Warriors second half thrust showed the resiliency and strength of the winningest team of all time.
3) Golden State refused to let Kevin Durant beat them
At the intermission, Kevin Durant was 4 of 5 from the field for nine points. The Thunder at that point were shooting just 37.8 percent from the floor and still leading by five. The obvious thing to do would be to get Durant more shots, and OKC tried really hard to do just that.
He took 14 shots int he second half and made six of them, but what was missing from that picture is what the Warriors were doing to Russell Westbrook.
By restricting the quality of Durant’s looks (and the quantity too for that matter), the Warriors got Westbrook to start pressing too hard. Again we saw some of the foolishness Westbrook is prone to when he gets overly selfish—the air balled three and a missed layup.
Westbrook absolutely willed the Thunder in this series, so it is hard to find too much fault with his mistakes, but he was after all just 10 of 27 from the field in Game 6 and 7 of 21 in this decisive Game 7. That is 35 percent shooting in the final two games of the series. Credit both last year's Finals MVP Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson for their combined efforts in making Westbrook's task so difficult.
Their defense was tough, but this series perfectly exemplified why the Thunder need to round out its roster with another premier scorer. OKC can never take both Durant and Westbrook off the floor at the same time, and that is a bit of a problem. And when a team like Golden State finds a way to put the clamps on one of them, the other is in for a hellacious time on a roster bereft of major scoring options.
Coming up
Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will be on Thursday at 9 PM Eastern Standard Time on ABC.