It was very simple as OKC’s five game winning streak came to an end on Monday night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena–if an opposing team can’t make threes against the Golden State Warriors they’re usually not going to win.
Such was the case as the Warriors shot 15-33 from beyond the arc while the Thunder were an abysmal 4-21. Ball game. With Kevin Durant sitting with a sore knee it didn’t matter as Klay Thompson and Steph Curry were more than enough as Golden State eased past the Thunder by a score of 111-95 in a game which was basically over at halftime as Curry buried a half court shot at the buzzer which put the Thunder in a 39-59 hole at the break.
Klay Thompson was once again brilliant playing in Oklahoma City as he scored a smooth 34 points featuring seven made three pointers.
Bottom line, 95 points scored isn’t going to beat these Warriors very often even when they don’t have Durant on the floor.
OKC’s offense was a mess for most of the first half. Russell Westbrook struggled as did every one of his teammates. Nobody really played well offensively for the Thunder and it was especially hurtful that three point specialists Alex Abrines and Doug McDermott went a combined 0-10 from the field.
Westbrook’s line was 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists as he stayed locked in at 34 on the triple double list with twelve games remaining.
Golden State has now won seven straight games over the Thunder dating back to last year’s Western Conference Finals and it has become painfully apparent OKC as a team doesn’t shoot well enough on most nights to hang with this potent Warriors team which features three of the game’s three best pure shooters in the league. All four Thunder losses to the Warriors this season were by double digit margins and in none of the games did the Thunder have a chance to win in the fourth period.
A turner might have been turned in Toronto, but the turner wasn’t even close to being turned on Monday night against the Warriors who quite frankly seemed to toy with the Thunder with relative ease.
OKC drops to 40-30 with the loss and hosts the Philadelphia 76’ers on Wednesday night.