Golden State Warriors 111-107 Oklahoma City Thunder: 5 Talking Points
The Golden State Warriors traveled to the Chesapeake Energy Arena in downtown Oklahoma City on Tuesday night to play out the final game of their regular season four-game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Russell Westbrook and Co. had the chance of gaining an upper hand over Kevin Durant led Warriors as the hosts held a 2-1 advantage.
Steve Kerr's team, however, had other plans as they competed in a grueling fashion against the Thunder, with a hostile home crowd piling up the pressure on the defending champions.
Despite trailing the Thunder at the end of the first quarter, Golden State, playing without Stephen Curry, turned things around and won the game 111-107, tying the season series in the process. Here are the major talking points from the game.
#5 Hard basketball from the get-go
If you thought that the Golden State Warriors would take this game lightly because of their confirmed playoffs status, you were wrong. The very instant that the game started, both teams played hard basketball.
There was a lot of energy on both offense and defense, shots were being contested, pick and roll plays were on, and there was tremendous hustle from all the players on the court. The game was extremely physical too, with lots of contact dictating the scheme of things on either end of the court.
In fact, four players had already accumulated two fouls each in the first quarter itself: Klay Thompson and Nick Young for the Warriors; Steven Adams and Paul George for the Thunder.
The electrifying start to the game coupled with the involvement of the crowd led to a playoffs-like atmosphere in the building.