2016 West Finals: Splash brothers help Warriors outlast nervous Thunder, force Game 7
[1] Golden State Warriors 108-101 [3] Oklahoma City Thunder [Series tied 3-3]
Nince times defending champions have gone down 3-1 in a Playoff series and only twice they have fought back to win the series – The 1979 Washington Bullets and the 1995 Houston Rockets. The current reigning champions of the NBA, the Golden State Warriors are halfway there, having forced Game 7 at home after winning a huge Game 6 on the road.
With the Warriors were trailing for most of the game, it was the Splash brothers that helped them win Game 6 with their shooting, scoring 45 of the team’s 60 second half points. Stephen Curry recorded a near triple double of 29 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists to go along with 2 steals (one in the final minute) while Klay Thompson scored a Playoff career high 41 points, which included a NBA Playoff record 11 3’s.
While league MVP Curry got it going late in the fourth quarter, Thompson had been knocking down long balls all game and keeping the Warriors in it. His performance goes down in history books given the circumstances surrounding the game. His 41 points are the most by a player in a road elimination game since LeBron James had 45 points against the Boston Celtics in 2012.
His performance puts him in select company:
Via @EliasSports, Thompson: 4th player in last 50 years to get 40 points in a road elim game in Conf Finals or later (LeBron, Gervin, Dr J)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 29, 2016
Draymond Green was the other major contributor, filling up the stat sheet like he normally does, scoring 14 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, dishing out 6 dimes and registering 3 steals. A players whose importance cannot be determined is Andre Iguodala (8 points and 7 rebounds), the 2015 NBA Finals MVP, who had two clutch steals and a clutch bucket in three possessions during the final couple of minutes.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were famous in the regular season for blowing leads against any teams, good or bad. They lost close to 14 or 15 games (led the NBA) after leading heading into the final quarter.
They competed in Game 5 but were thoroghouly outplayed however in Game 6 they beat themselves. Their leading ball handler Russell Westbrook (28 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds) had four of his five turnovers in the final 1:49 minutes of the game.
Okahoma City went back to its iso hero ball plays in the closing minutes, to stave off the Warriors’ comeback but the move backfired. They got outscored 19-5 in the final 5 minutes of the game. Kevin Durant starred once again for his team with 29 points but it came off a poor shooting night (10 of 31) and he too failed to show up in the final minutes, recording two of his three turnovers in the final three minutes of the game.
Close or not, back to back wins, including this comeback win on the road, means the momentum of the series has shifted once again. It’s do or die for both teams in Game 7 but the Warriors will have home court advantage, courtesy of their league leading and recording breaking 73-9 regular season record.
Game 7 will be played at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on Monday night.
Golden State might have won the game and forced a Game 7 but this poster by Steven Adams was one of top plays of the game: