Thunder Win But Stephen Adams Loses in Game 3

23 May, 2016

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Thunder gave the Warriors as complete a beating as they experienced during their record-setting season.

Suddenly, a second straight title seems to be anything but a given for Golden State. Now the Warriors are just trying to survive.

Durant scored 33 points, Westbrook had 30 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, and Oklahoma City rolled to a 133-105 victory on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

The Warriors, who set an NBA record with 73 victories in the regular season, trailed by 41 points, their largest deficit this season.

“We got what we deserved,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Durant made 10 of 15 shots and Westbrook was 10 of 19. It was the first time this postseason both players shot better than 50 percent from the field.

“We’re not going to win that way,” Golden State guard Klay Thompson said. “One of those guys got to have an off night.”

Serge Ibaka added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who matched a franchise record for most points scored in a playoff game.

Oklahoma City outrebounded the Warriors in its Game 1 victory, but the Warriors won the battle of the boards in Game 2 and beat the Thunder 118-91. Oklahoma City reasserted its dominance on the glass on Sunday, outrebounding Golden State 52-38.

Westbrook said the Thunder also needed to make the hustle plays that add to the rebounding totals.

“That’s one thing we slipped up on in Game 2, and I think tonight, we did a good job of getting loose balls and finding ways to get 50/50 basketballs and give ourselves extra possessions,” he said.

Golden State will be in an uncomfortable position heading into Game 4 on Tuesday in Oklahoma City, but the Warriors remain confident. Golden State trailed Memphis and Cleveland 2-1 in playoff series last year and won both on its way to claiming the NBA title.

“Both times, we got blown out in Game 3, and we responded well, so we have that memory,” Kerr said. “I’m confident we’re going to come out and play a really good game in Game 4, and we’ll see what happens.”

The last time Golden State’s Stephen Curry had played in Oklahoma City, he scored 46 points, tied an NBA record with 12 3-pointers and hit a game-winning, 37-footer. This time, the league MVP finished with 24 points on 7-for-17 shooting. Klay Thompson added 18 points on 8-for-19 shooting.

Golden State’s Draymond Green, who kicked Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams in the groin and has become Thunder fans’ No. 1 target because of some questionable tactics, struggled on both ends of the floor and finished with six points on 1-for-9 shooting. The Warriors were outscored by 43 points when he was in the game.

With 5:57 left in the second quarter, Green kicked Adams after a foul. It was the second time in the series Green hit Adams there – he hit him with a knee in Game 2. The crowd chanted “Kick him out! Kick him out!” but Green was issued a flagrant 1 foul and remained in the game.

Green said he wasn’t trying to hurt Adams.

“I thought it would probably get rescinded,” he said. “I followed through on a shot. I’m not trying to kick somebody in the midsection. Somebody wants to have kids someday. I’m not trying to end that on the basketball court.”

Seemingly energized after Green’s foul, the Thunder outscored the Warriors 24-7 the rest of the half, with many of the baskets coming against Green. In a play that summarized the second quarter perfectly, Green went in for a layup and got it blocked by Durant, then Durant made a 3-pointer on the other end to give the Thunder a 64-47 lead.

Green fouled Westbrook on a long 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left in the first half. Westbrook made all three free throws to put the Thunder up 72-47 at the break. Durant had 23 points on 6-for-10 shooting and 10 of 10 free throws in the first half, and Westbrook had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds at the break. It was the most points scored against the Warriors in any half this season.

Curry shot 4 for 13 in the first half, Thompson went 5 for 14 and Green 1 for 8.

The Thunder continued the onslaught by making 17 of 22 shots in the third quarter to take a 117-80 lead into the fourth.

AP

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