Warriors fans were hoping a rivalry game against the Thunder could break the team out of their recent funk, but Tuesday night’s game was more of the same from Golden State.
The Warriors had lost two of their past three games, and head coach Steve Kerr said his team was “mentally fried” and looking forward to the All-Star break. A big matchup against the Thunder at home should’ve given Golden State the motivation they needed to snap them out of their malaise.
The Warriors’ problems with turnovers and their defensive struggles continued against Oklahoma City, and they lost two straight games for the first time all season.
Golden State gave up 125 points on the defensive end, and they failed to take care of the basketball with 24 turnovers.
KD was the lone bright spot for the Warriors. Durant has owned the Thunder ever since he left Oklahoma City, and he went off again on Tuesday night with 33 points on 8/14 from the field.
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Steph Curry had a solid game with 21 points, but he shot 2/9 from three-point land and looked out of rhythm for most of the night.
Draymond Green was ejected after receiving his second technical foul. He probably deserved the first technical, but his second technical was given to him after simply tossing the ball to a referee.
The referees were missing calls left and right, but they probably didn’t change the outcome of the game.
Russell Westbrook and Paul George combined for 72 points on the night, and the Thunder looked just fine without Carmelo Anthony, who left the game with an ankle injury after just six minutes.
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The Warriors cushion for the top seed keeps getting smaller, and they can’t afford to just coast into the All-Star break. They have three straight home games coming up to get back on track and keep their lead ahead of the Rockets in the Western Conference.