Warriors Do the Impossible, Get Momentum Back for Game 7

The Golden State Warriors finally looked familiar in a glorious, game-shifting, season-salvaging stretch—one that secured a seemingly impossible 108-101 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.

Better late than never.

OKC's late-stage collapse, compounded by a vintage (but heretofore absent) Warriors closing surge, means the Thunder must return to Oakland for Game 7 without their most valuable commodity: momentum.

The Thunder spent the first three quarters of Saturday's epic clash doing what they'd done for most of the series. They doused Golden State's sparks, keeping the league's best offense from igniting and answering seemingly every Warriors run with counter-streaks of their own.

As has been the case throughout the matchup, Oklahoma City's defensive length bothered the Warriors. The following second-quarter possession was an example of that, as Andre Roberson refused to let Klay Thompson get the ball, and rangy help everywhere else forced a shot-clock violation:

Role-fillers like Roberson continued making impacts and prompting conversations nobody ever could have foreseen, per Bleacher Report's Jared Dubin:

And for at least the first 40 minutes of the game, the Thunder owned the edge in raw physicality.

So many of the same narratives developed—OKC's size and athleticism gumming up Golden State's offense, the Warriors turning the ball over too frequently, Stephen Curry failing to get loose against switches—that it was easy to see the balance of the contest playing out in familiar fashion.

The Thunder were poised to win.

But for the first time, Golden State did to Oklahoma City what it did to everyone else all year.

It found the searing, game-stealing, soul-scalding hot streak that, until Saturday, the Thunder had iced. Thompson erupted for 19 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter, outscoring the entire Thunder team by himself and hitting five threes of increasingly absurd difficulty.

When the flurry was over, he'd set a new NBA record, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Curry joined him in the familiar barrage and finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. After struggling to score against Oklahoma City's big men on switches, Curry feasted on Serge Ibaka. Deep treys fell, and Curry paired those heaves with decisive paint attacks.

Thanks to the Warriors' incendiary backcourt play and some incredible late-game defense from Andre Iguodala (who stripped both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on pivotal possessions), Curry got to inform the assembled Thunder supporters about an upcoming engagement:

Golden State's finishing spurt wasn't the only familiar regular-season trend to return; OKC's clutch struggles came along, too, per Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated:

More gory details from Golliver:

The Warriors' rejuvenation, confidence and all-out momentum seizure should trouble the Thunder, but the ill-timed return of OKC's crunch-time failures may be the bigger cause for concern.

Durant forced shots all game and finished with 29 points on 10-of-31 shooting. Westbrook was 10-of-27 and coughed up four devastating turnovers in the final 100 seconds of the contest. As a team, OKC didn't register an assist during the game's final 12 minutes.

Stagnation, individual play and the same jitters that cost the Thunder at least two of their three regular-season losses to Golden State were all back. The Warriors deserve tons of credit for closing things out on a forceful 19-5 run, but Oklahoma City spent a season seizing up late.

For the Thunder, this was an eerily familiar reprise.

OKC will bring that baggage with it to Oakland where the Warriors will take their home floor confidently. In fact, as head coach Steve Kerr told reporters, the worst (in terms of pressure) is already over:

"

“I don’t think there can be more pressure on us in Game 7 than there was tonight. “ - Steve Kerr

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) May 29, 2016"

That may or may not be true. The Thunder felt the squeeze trying to close out the Warriors in Oklahoma City, so some of that weight will transfer to the Dubs when they reassume home-favorite status. Plus, the Warriors are still the ones facing historic levels of disappointment if they follow up a 73-win campaign with a pre-NBA Finals elimination.

The Thunder have already proved they can win at Oracle Arena, and the Warriors shouldn't assume they can hit that familiar, contest-closing level on command. Especially not against an Oklahoma City team that, for the overwhelming majority of this war, has been the better battler.

But Golden State now knows it can reach that incomparable level—even against a team as potent and talented and hungry as the Thunder.

After searching for six games, the Warriors found themselves for five minutes. If they remember where to look in Game 7, they'll add a wholly improbable series win to the legend of their 2015-16 season.

Follow @gt_hughes on Twitter.