Thunder vs. Warriors: Game 2 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

The Golden State Warriors don't lose back-to-back games. At least, that's what this season has taught us.  

Entering Wednesday night's Game 2 showdown against the Oklahoma City Thunder having followed every 2015-16 regular-season and postseason loss with a win, the defending champions extended that streak to 12 and evened the Western Conference Finals with a 118-91 triumph at Oracle Arena.  

A game after scoring 12 points during a sluggish second-half collapse, Stephen Curry single-handedly put the Thunder away by scoring 17 third-quarter points, including 12 in an 82-second stretch to tilt all of the momentum in Golden State's favor.     

The MVP finished with 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting (5-of-8 from three) to lead the Warriors, and he looked exponentially more comfortable as a result of the way Golden State varied its offensive sets to get him more involved, according to ESPN.com's Zach Lowe: 

However, Curry didn't do it all by himself. 

Andre Iguodala was a spark plug personified on both ends of the floor, and he tallied 14 points to go with three steals and three rebounds. To put Iguodala's impact in perspective, the Warriors outscored the Thunder by 18 points during his 26 Game 2 minutes. 

Draymond Green also ramped up the intensity following a frustrating opening act. In 32 minutes, the position-less wizard notched 10 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two blocks. Klay Thompson, who was the most consistent Golden State scorer in Game 1, managed 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting. 

And while balance reigned supreme for Golden State, the story wasn't the same for Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant was left to do the heavy lifting for the Thunder with 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting, and he was one of just two OKC players to finish in double figures. 

Russell Westbrook distributed deftly throughout the game's early stages and accrued 12 dimes, but his shot was shaky in the aftermath of a 19-point third-quarter eruption in Game 1. All told, Westbrook scored just 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting, including 1-of-5 from three. 

As was the case in Game 1, the Warriors looked like the more explosive team through one quarter. Curry filled it up to the tune of 11 points over the game's first 12 minutes despite taking a scary fall into the stands, and Golden State followed his lead en route to capturing a seven-point lead through one frame.

The Warriors pushed their lead to as many as nine points in the early stages of the second quarter, but turnovers and missed opportunities facilitated by sloppy passing prevented them from blowing things open. 

Durant, to his credit, saw an opening and took advantage.

The Slim Reaper at one point ripped off 10 straight points for the Thunder to cut Golden State's deficit to three, and his playmaking, combined with Golden State's relative stagnancy on offense, allowed Oklahoma City to fight back, per CSN Chicago's Vincent Goodwill: 

Durant finished with 23 of the Thunder's 49 first-half points, as NBA.com/Stats on Twitter illustrated, but he also committed five of OKC's nine turnovers during that span:

Careless passing proved costly, too, since it deprived the Thunder of building momentum.

Although the Thunder knotted the contest at 49 with one minute, 35 seconds remaining in the first half, the Warriors went on an 8-0 run over the stanza's final 66 seconds that was punctuated by a circus layup from Iguodala: 

At that point, it was only a matter of time until the floodgates opened. 

Curry went on his 12-points-in-82-seconds romp, and the Warriors proceeded to open up a 20-point lead as the Thunder sputtered on the other end of the floor.

The Associated Press' Tim Reynolds provided a play-by-play breakdown to explain just how fast things got out of hand: 

Golden State finished the third quarter with a 31-19 edge in the scoring column, and a sizable cushion allowed the Dubs to coast in garbage time throughout the final frame. 

The Thunder will now head back to Oklahoma City looking to regroup for Game 3 on Sunday night (8 p.m. ET on TNT). 

While Oklahoma City clearly needs more from its supporting cast after Serge Ibaka (three points), Dion Waiters (seven points) and Enes Kanter (six points) all failed to show up, the Thunder also need to assert their dominance on the glass.

Despite wielding a major edge in the size department, Oklahoma City was out-rebounded, 45-36, including 15-7 on the offensive glass. For a team that finished the regular season tops in total and offensive rebounding, per Basketball-Reference.com, that's unacceptable. 

The good news for the Thunder is that they were able to salvage a split in Golden State and steal home-court advantage as the scene shifts to Chesapeake Energy Arena. Plus, Oklahoma City is 4-2 at home this postseason and has outscored opponents by 14 points per 100 possessions in those six contests, according to NBA.com's statistical database. 

And based on the way things have unfolded through two games, it would be a surprise if the Western Conference Finals wound up resembling anything other than a seven-game classic. 

Postgame Reaction

Following the win, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr explained that Curry was fine despite suffering a swollen elbow as a result of the first-quarter fall. 

"We were just waiting to see him get up," he said, according to ESPN's Rachel Nichols. "And he got up [and] looked fine [and] we all breathed a sigh of relief."

"The elbow is fine," Curry added, according to Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver. "It looks like it has a tennis ball on top of it. It doesn't affect range of motion."

As for Curry's third-quarter outburst, Kerr sounded like a man who's been desensitized to greatness due to repeated exposure.

"Business as usual," he said, per Golliver. "This is what he does."

Kerr elaborated a bit on his thought process during Curry's finest hour, as NBA TV documented on Twitter: 

Thunder head coach Billy Donovan also chimed in on Curry's big night, per NBA TV: 

"That was our brand of basketball," Curry said, per ESPN.com's J.A. Adande. 

Durant, meanwhile, didn't appear thrilled with his own effort after turning the ball over eight times. 

"I was turning the ball over, playing in a crowd," he said, according to ESPN.com's Royce Young. "Maybe I've just got to shoot over three people."

But even though the Durant wasn't pleased with the outcome, one Warriors contributor noted OKC accomplished its primary goal over the course of Games 1 and 2. 

"They did their job," Green said, according to the Orange County Register's Bill Oram. "They came and won one."