Warriors survive at home, live to play Game 6
The Golden State Warriors live to fight another day, defeating the OKC Thunder in Oakland to make the series 3-2.
It wasn’t perfect, but it’s a start.
After losing two lopsided games in Oklahoma City, the Golden State Warriors returned home for their first must-win game in the Steve Kerr era. Trailing 3-1, the Warriors responded, beating the Thunder 120-111 in an ugly win.
Oracle Arena was buzzing even before the tip as thousands in gold t-shirts stood in anticipation. The Warriors won the opening tip and the first play looked like the Warriors that won 73 games this past season. They moved the ball. Klay Thompson drove it on the left side and hit Draymond Green standing on the wing, who swung it to Harrison Barnes in the corner for a three. It was effortless and natural.
The rest of the game wasn’t like that.
This was a battle. Golden State had to grind out every possession, working to get good looks. The Thunder have defended the three-point line well this series so the Warriors decided to take it to the rim. Steven Adams picked up two quick fouls and the Warriors got a few freebies at the charity stripe. Playing for their season, the Warriors were tenacious, getting a hand in every Thunder player’s face. The Warriors ended the quarter with a narrow lead, holding the Thunder to just 28.6 percent shooting.
A big reason for Golden State’s victory was the bench contribution. Marreese Speights came in and did exactly what you need out of a reserve. He made some mistakes, but he provided the spark off the bench that you need to win in the playoffs. Speights played 8 minutes, scored 14 points, while hitting all 5 of his free throws. He helped shift momentum with his and-ones and his charge that he drew on Russell Westbrook.
The Warriors were a different team tonight, one that resembled the team we’ve grown accustomed to. They finished with just 15 assists in Game 4 and had 16 at the half in this one. Golden State was able to get going a little bit at times, playing freely.
Throughout the series, the Warriors have turned to their Death Lineup without much luck. He opted to stay big in this one, playing Andrew Bogut extensively. It was a dramatic change that no one really expected. Bogut was extremely active in this one, playing one of his finest games as a Golden State Warrior. He scored 15 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots. He was all over the place, helping on Durant and Westbrook when he could.
The Warriors lost their composure early in the third. Green was called for a foul on Durant shooting a three and expressed his displeasure at the referee and picked up a technical foul. The four point play came after Stephen Curry missed a layup could have been a major turning point in this game. But Kerr wisely took a timeout and helped this team settle down.
Throughout this one, Kerr continued to gamble with his rotations, playing his bench players at key moments throughout the game. Instead of shortening his rotation, he went to a near full-bench unit at times. He was able to buy time in the fourth quarter for Curry, Thompson, and Green as the bench unit plus Barnes extended the lead.
The final minutes of this game was what makes NBA basketball so special. Curry picked up Durant twice. The former MVP isolated on the reigning MVP and Curry picked him twice. On one of them, he was off to the races and eventually finished in traffic with a very difficult layup. He turned to the ground and shouted “We ain’t going home.”
The Warriors were much-improved from the last two games. They fed off Oracle Arena’s energy and they played with desperation. The bench mob completely outplayed the Thunder’s reserves and it was enough for the Warriors to survive.
Game 6 is on Saturday in OKC, where the Warriors have yet to challenge the Thunder thus far.