Thunder vs. Warriors: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2014 Regular Season
The Golden State Warriors earned a hard-fought 114-109 home victory over the rapidly rising Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.
Stephen Curry led all scorers with 34 points on 14-of-24 shooting. Klay Thompson provided plenty of support with 19 points. As a team, Golden State recorded 32 assists to just nine turnovers, in contrast to Oklahoma City, which had 17 and 15 respectively.
Russell Westbrook did his best to single-handedly push the Thunder over the top in the second half, scoring 33 points and dishing out eight assists on the night.
Westbrook didn't have the support of Kevin Durant after halftime due to the Thunder star suffering an ankle injury, which limited him to just 19 minutes on the court. Durant shone brightly in his limited appearance, scoring 30 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-6 from behind the arc.
Durant hurt his right ankle stepping on Marreese Speights' foot with seconds remaining in the first half.
ESPN.com's Royce Young reported that Durant sprained the ankle, and he didn't return for the second half:
Replacing a player of Durant's caliber is impossible, and the Thunder didn't get enough from the supporting cast to compensate for his exit.
It's hard to add much weight to a regular-season game in the middle of December, but you couldn't help but see this game as a bit of a litmus test for both teams.
The Warriors are arguably the best team in the league at the moment, and beating the Thunder at full strength would keep Golden State atop its perch.
Meanwhile, few expected Oklahoma City to return to form so quickly after getting both Westbrook and Durant back. A win over the Warriors would add further validation to the idea that the Thunder are once again among the West's elite.
Golden State already owned one win against OKC entering Thursday. Head coach Steve Kerr made sure to qualify that victory, noting that winning tonight would be much more difficult, per Sam Amick of USA Today:
As the Warriors pointed out on Twitter, this battle also pitted two of the NBA's top defensive units against one another:
Golden State, however, entered with a big disadvantage, both literally and figuratively. The team announced earlier Thursday that Andrew Bogut will be out indefinitely, per Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:
His absence leaves a big hole inside, one the Thunder were happy to exploit early on. Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group noted how Curry especially was having trouble. Bogut often serves as the safety valve should Curry's defender blow by and drive into the paint:
Oklahoma City jumped on the Warriors early, running out to a 30-13 lead six minutes and 44 seconds into the first quarter. The Thunder wrapped up the first frame with a 40-32 advantage. Golden State had no answer for Durant and Westbrook, who combined to shoot 10-of-17 for 29 points, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Golden State, Curry in particular, responded in kind in the second quarter, locking down on the defensive end and knocking down key shots on the offensive end. The Warriors clawed back to within a point, 48-47, 7:37 from halftime.
Just as the Warriors were having trouble corralling the Thunder's biggest stars, Oklahoma City found itself at times helpless as Curry knocked down clutch three-pointers, such as this shot that gave the Warriors a 55-52 lead, via NBA on TNT:
That was the start of an 8-0 run, which helped propel the Warriors to a 65-63 halftime lead.
Golden State struck a good offensive balance in the first half. Curry led the way with 19 points, adding six assists. Thompson and Draymond Green also scored in double figures, while the bench contributed 15 points.
The bulk of Oklahoma City's scoring was left to Durant and Westbrook, who had 30 and 15, respectively. The 30 points were Durant's most this season:
Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman wasn't convinced, though. He questioned whether the Thunder were a little too reliant on the duo, which is the most common refrain about the team's offense:
Durant's importance to the team is obvious, and ESPN Stats & Info provided the quantitative first-half data illustrating the extent—at least in terms of Thursday night—of the decline in performance:
Without No. 35 on the court, Oklahoma City simply couldn't break through, and when it did, it quickly ceded the advantage.
The Thunder continued to hang around, but Golden State kept them at arm's reach. The Warriors owned a 94-89 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Serge Ibaka and Andre Roberson stepped up a bit to help shoulder the scoring load, while Westbrook wasn't shy about looking for his shot. The length and athleticism of the Thunder defense also helped to keep Oklahoma City in the game.
The Thunder took the lead in the fourth quarter, 105-104, with three minutes left following a jump shot from Westbrook. Golden State answered with three straight buckets to get back into the driver's seat and own a five-point advantage with 1:39 to go.
A Harrison Barnes fadeaway iced the game for Golden State in the dying seconds. Young felt that it just wasn't OKC's night:
Tim Bontemps of the New York Post also felt the play demonstrated Golden State's team mentality, even in the crucial moments:
Durant's injury not only made OKC's defeat somewhat inevitable, it also robbed NBA fans of what could've been a potential game of the year. The first half produced breathless, end-to-end basketball. The second was slightly more plodding, with the specter of Durant's absence hanging throughout.
Luckily for Oklahoma City fans, his injury doesn't appear to be too serious, as relayed by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports:
The Thunder stay on the West Coast for their next game. They move down the California coast to play the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
Golden State gets a couple of days off before starting a rough stretch of four games in six days. The Warriors welcome in the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
