Golden State Warriors 118 — Oklahoma City Thunder 91
Series tied 1-1
In Game 1, the Oklahoma City Thunder got their split and a reinforced identity as a new Thunder squad. Anything beyond a split would have been gravy, but what I didn’t want to see tonight was OKC basically play a complacent game in a series where you have a chance to take out the defending NBA champions.
The fact the Thunder ultimately got hammered by 27 points doesn’t alter the fact the Thunder still have a plausible road map to winning this series in six games, but that won’t happen if the Thunder team we saw tonight is the real Thunder team for the remainder of this series.
All the bad things OKC did at times this season reared their ugly head in this Game 2 blowout win by the Warriors with turnovers and soft defense being the main culprits. But add to the fact—the Warriors played with a sense of urgency while the Thunder played with their luggage already on the team charter for the return flight to OKC at halftime.
Steve Kerr did make some adjustments in finding Enes Kanter on the floor, but in the end the Warriors just outworked and out-smarted the Thunder.
There’s no way in this series the Warriors should ever outrebound the Thunder, yet for the game the Warriors out boarded the Thunder 45-36. Same with 50/50 balls and long rebounds as the Warriors came up with the hustle plays, while the Thunder were basically outworked and out shot.
Three sequences stand out to me: (1) The Iguodala no look layup and one in the midst of a Warriors 11-2 run to close the first half . (2) Kevin Durant fouling Steph Curry on a three then compounding it even more by getting a tech and a four point play just when OKC couldn’t afford that type of mental gaffe. Game over right there and then. You could feel the water rushing through the dam in Oracle…literally. You can’t have that from your leader. You just can’t. And (3) Russell Westbrook air balling two horrible threes to end the first half for the Thunder.
Five Thunder players scored in double figures in Game 1, only two Thunder players scored in double figures tonight while the Warriors had seven players in double figures led by Steph Curry’s 28 points on 15 shots.
The Warriors went back to moving the ball, the Thunder reverted to holding the ball and watching Durant and Westbrook.
Actually, Durant got on a tear late in the second period and the Thunder led for the briefest of times before the Warriors closed the half on an 11-2 tear of their of their own. It would be the first of two Warrior tears of consequence in the game. OKC did their part by committing a turnover, then gift wrapping two Westbrook air balls on two horrible threes. And like the Durant four point giveaway to Curry, you can’t have three possessions to close a half where you don’t touch the rim once on any of the three possessions. You have to maintain some degree of composure.
Playoff basketball isn’t for knee jerkers. If you lose a game you lose a game, but the manner in which OKC competed tonight is a bit alarming. This wasn’t the new Thunder, this was the same Thunder we saw far too often with its warts and blemishes.
The question to be asked is which Thunder squad we’ll see in Game 3? The Thunder we saw for the previous four games or the Thunder we saw struggle with composure and execution issues against elite teams all regular season and tonight?
The win on Tuesday night did not make the series, nor did the loss tonight eliminate the Thunder’s plausible path to a Game 6 series win over the defending champs.
But make this clear, the old Thunder don’t have a plausible path to winning this series, only the new Thunder when this series resumes for Game 3 in Oklahoma City on Sunday evening.
Mike Jackson