Golden State Warriors Squeak Out Another Win On The Road Against Oklahoma City Thunder In First Game Of NBA In-Season Tournament
The Golden State Warriors started their four game road trip last night with a thrilling victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. With star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out with injury, the Warriors should have won this game with ease. But with the home crowd behind them, several Thunder players stepped up big time and kept the game close throughout. With 16 seconds left in the game, Lu Dort was at the line for two, with the Thunder down by just one point. He went 1-2, giving the Warriors the last shot. Everybody in the arena knew who was getting the rock, but it didn’t matter. Steph Curry waited for the clock to wind down before making his move, getting past his defender for a finger-roll floater off glass to beat the buzzer and give the Warriors the win, 141-139.
Both teams came out the gates hot, with 12 points being scored in the first minute alone. In fact, nobody on either team missed a shot until Jalen Williams with under 9 minutes in the first. By then the score was already 14-10 in favor of the Thunder. Wiggins got to the line for two before Draymond and Steph hit back to back threes to give the Warriors a two point lead. Saric subbed into the game and immediately found his rhythm, connecting on three three pointers along with a chip shot layup to finish the quarter with 8 points and lead the Warriors to a 38-33 lead. Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins, unrelated to Andrew, got the scoring started in the second with a long ball but Saric stayed hot and fired back with one of his own. Rookie big man Chet Holmgren then put up six straight for OKC with four of them coming from the line. He was a problem all night as the Warriors didn’t have anyone that even came within 4 inches of his height. A few minutes later Curry and Draymond nailed big threes to bring the lead to 58-50. Just when you thought the Warriors would pull away, Jalen Williams got to the rack for two, sandwiched by a three from Isaiah Joe and a three from Lu Dort to knot things up at 60 apiece with just over three minutes to play. Curry and Klay drilled a three each but they just couldn’t stop the Thunder as Chet got two more from the line and Kentucky product Cason Wallace hit a three. Going into the break, the Warriors clung to a 69-67 lead with lots to talk about regarding buckling down on defense.
The Warriors did anything but buckled down, as the third quarter was the highest scoring of the game with the Thunder putting up 39 points. The Dubs were able to put up 37 themselves to keep the game close but giving up almost 40 in a quarter is never a recipe for success. Lu Dort caught fire as he racked up 16 points on four treys in the first six minutes. Curry countered this with 12 points of his own, nailing two threes. With the second unit in the game to close out the third, it was Kuminga who stepped up, attacking the rim ferociously. He had 9 points including three nice finishes at the rim along with a sweet jumper. At the start of the fourth, the game was all square at 106. If you thought either team would start playing defense now, you were wrong. Wiggins quickly got to the lane for two but Giddey came back with an and-one of his own. Moody fired back with a huge three but once again it was Giddey with another and-one on a nifty floater to give OKC a one point lead. With just over eight minutes left, Curry and Draymond checked back into the game with the Warriors down 123-119 after Isaiah Joe nailed two threes, one being an and-one. Curry found Kuminga for an easy two but Giddey couldn’t be stopped and found his spots for four more points bringing the lead to six. A few minutes later it was rookie Cason Wallace’s time to shine as he scored four straight but after a tough Draymond and-one and a clutch Klay three ball, the game was knotted up at 133 apiece with three and half minutes to go. Breakout phenom Jalen Williams went 1-2 from the line and after a defensive stop, got to the lane for a nice layup. But Curry came right back with a layup of his own and after a sloppy foul by the Thunder, Klay Thompson was at the free throw line with the chance to put the Dubs up one. He did just that, and after two more lead changes, OKC had the rock down one with 21 seconds left. Draymond got called for a very controversial foul but Lu Dort was only able to hit one free throw leaving Golden State with the last shot. Curry drove right and scooped the ball up and it bounced off the backboard, teetered on the rim and fell in. After a couple minutes of review regarding potential goaltending on Draymond, the basket was ruled good and the Warriors escaped with a win 141-139.
Everybody ate on both sides this game, as seen by the total hitting 280 points. Curry paced all scorers with 30 and was on triple double watch finishing with 8 boards and 7 assists. Klay had 18 with 4 threes, while Wiggins and Dray had a respectable 17 and 15 with 5 boards apiece. Saric and Kuminga were clutch off the bench combining for 39 points on a 15-24 clip. GP3 and Moody knocked down a couple timely threes and put up 9 and 8 themselves. For the Thunder, Lu Dort led the way with 29 on an impressive 9-12 from the field including 6-6 from downtown. Chet had 24 himself going 7-9, including 8-8 from the charity stripe. Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams put up 18 each, and rookie Cason Wallace recorded 13 as the starter for SGA. Off the bench it was Isaiah Joe who provided the spark plug with 16.
In a game where very little defense was played as both teams scored over 30 in every quarter, it seemed like whoever got the ball last would win. Luckily for the Warriors, they did. But this type of defensive performance cannot be replicated by the Dubs if they want to win games. They allowed OKC to shoot an astonishing 60.2% from the field and 51.7% from beyond the arc. OKC also got to the rack with much more success recording 62 points in the paint compared to 48 for Golden State. With so many shots being made there were a lot less rebounds to go around but the Warriors were able to win the rebound battle 38-32. Another positive takeaway is the fact that the Dubs forced 19 turnovers. But as per usual, they coughed it up too many times, with 15 giveaways.
One thing worth mentioning is Chris Paul’s lack of scoring. The last two games he has put up 1 and 2 points. Despite this, he is still extremely effective at running the offense and helping the second unit find good looks and high quality shots. He will certainly find his stroke and be a huge contributor when he needs to be, but for now he is accepting the facilitator role, and is excelling in it.
The Warriors continue their road trip on Sunday with a matchup coming against the Cleveland Cavaliers. They have not lost to the Cavs in over 6 years, but Cleveland boasts a roster full of talented players this year, and the game is sure to be a close one. I predict the Dubs will squeak out another win, 124-121.