NBA Playoffs 2016: TV Schedule, Date and Odds for Thunder vs. Warriors Game 7

Legacies will be defined on Monday night, when the Oklahoma City Thunder meet the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.

Really it's Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook's legacies that could be defined, whereas Stephen Curry could only further cement his legendary status by advancing his Warriors to the Finals to face the Cleveland Cavaliers.

So it goes in a Game 7 where the defending champions have rallied back from the brink and shoved the visitors to the edge instead—visitors who should have already advanced.

The situation makes for one of the most important elimination games in recent history with LeBron James awaiting.

Viewing Info

When: Monday, May 30 at 9 p.m. ET

Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland

TV: TNT

Preview

Golden State returns home with every imaginable advantage.

Said advantages include observers apparently willing to hand over some eye-popping coin to come out and support the team:

It really doesn't get any bigger than this.

Curry and Co. might have made history in the regular season with 73 wins. They might be the defending champions. They might have even (mostly) cruised through the Western Conference bracket while Curry healed an injury.

But the Thunder just don't care, and they gave Curry and Co. the biggest dose of adversity they've ever faced. Golden State lost the first game of the series at home, 108-102. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, it was a 3-1 hole after the Warriors went on the road and suffered crushing 133-105 and 118-94 losses.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn't long before fans started wondering if Curry was still feeling the effects of an injury or if the Thunder had simply been constructed to take down the Warriors and that was that.

Then the Warriors surged back. 

They notched a 120-111 home win in Game 5, and even 40 points from Durant and 31 from Westbrook couldn't save the Thunder. If fans could see the momentum rippling on the screen then, it tore the thing in half after Game 6, a 108-101 Warriors victory on the road while Curry poured in 31 and Klay Thompson lead the way with 41, the team making 21 deep shots compared to the Thunder's three. 

The narrative has changed, indeed.

"If we walk in here like it's a funeral, then we already lost," Durant said Sunday, according to  Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman. "Nobody walked in like that."

That quote only seems to increase in relevance going into the finale. It's been an incredible ride for the Thunder, who are looking to take advantage of what could be Durant's final postseason run with the team before he hits free agency this summer. They were even able to take down the 67-win San Antonio Spurs in the previous round.

But doubts about the team's ability to win in Oakland on Monday night have plenty of justification, especially with folks like Slater tossing out numbers like this:

One can see how a blown 3-1 lead could do irreparable damage not only to Durant's legacy, but perhaps to the Thunder's chances of keeping the gang together.

The ball, in more ways than one, is not in their court.

Prediction

You don't need to look to Las Vegas to understand how the world thinks this one will go, but here it goes: Over at Odds Shark, the Warriors are seven-point favorites. 

Hard to complain, really. Golden State lost all of two games at Oracle Arena in the regular season, and under head coach Steve Kerr, the team is 14-2 after Game 4 in a series, according to Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News.

It's only fitting, then, that the Warriors cash in on some additional history, such as this potential milestone pointed out by ESPN's Dianna Marie Russini:

It might be easier to throw some weight behind the Thunder if the finale were about to be played in Oklahoma City.

Even then it would be tough, though, because as history shows, Golden State only improves in terms of dissecting its opponents and rediscovering its shooting stroke the longer a series drags on, and that point has been driven home in this very series.

Maybe this is just what the Warriors needed before going into the Finals against the Cavaliers. Either way, Curry and Thompson's lights-out shooting is unlikely to wane in front of a ravenous home crowd with the Thunder already reeling on the edge of an epic collapse.

Prediction: Warriors 121, Thunder 111

All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.