OAKLAND, Calif. - Billy Donovan talked about the power of emotion at the Thunder shootaround Monday morning. He understands the Golden State Warriors are going to make shots; they won an NBA-record 73 games in the regular shooting because of their ability to hit shots at a high level.
"They’re a hard team to guard," he said.
Donovan challenged the Thunder players to control their emotions come game time, saying "a 3-point shot can feel like a 10-point play at some points. You have to control your emotions … you can’t let it effect the next play."
The Thunder took those words to heart on Monday and in doing so, posted a 108-102 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Game 2 will take place Wednesday (8 p.m. Central, TNT) at Oracle Arena.
On a night when the Thunder faced challenges shooting the ball from the field (39 of 89), the free-throw line (22 of 32) and early turnovers (10 in the first half), the team – behind the force of its leaders, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook -- underscored its resiliency and stayed together. They did so by staying locked in on defense on focusing on the next possession.
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"We miss shots, that's going to happen, and that's part of being who we are as leaders of this team," Durant said. "But we just stayed with it on the defensive end, and I think when we got the shots late in the game, we were able to focus in and knock them down." Time and again throughout the first half, the Warriors hit 3-pointers or found uncontested paths to the basket via the pass, squashing temporary Thunder runs or threatening to blow the game open or worse.
The Thunder didn’t cave when calls didn’t go their way or when shots wouldn’t fall. The team didn’t panic when deficits reached double digits.
"Our guys just kept fighting and battling," Donovan said. The team didn’t hang its head when the Warriors’ Stephen Curry drained what Donovan termed an "incredible" 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer that had the Thunder down, 60-47, and the 19,596 fans clad in yellow chanting "M-V-P … M-V-P."
"We're a resilient group and we just keep fighting to the end," Durant said. "That's all we can do. "We were down early. We didn't give up. They hit a tough three going into the half. We didn't hang our heads," he added. "When they hit tough shots, we just kept playing. We just kept coming at them on both ends of the floor." The Thunder returned for the second half ready for battle. There was no need to dwell on the first 24 minutes. The Thunder stayed together.
"I've said this before, we're not a perfect team, but these guys really, really battle and fight and they compete," Donovan said. Westbrook notched his 10th assist of the game with 8:25 remaining in the quarter, setting up Andre Roberson for a reverse at the rim that pulled the Thunder within 10. The Warriors immediately called timeout, but Westbrook was just getting started.
He drained a 3 with 6:57 remaining in the period to make it 68-61. Westbrook was just 1-for-10 before that shot, but his confidence never wavered. He would hit another to cap a 19-8 run that pulled the Thunder within two, 68-66.
"I just tried to stay aggressive and find ways to impact the game," Westbrook said. "For me, my job is not just to score the basketball. My job is to get guys open, defend, rebound, whatever it is that's needed at the time to help us win games." By the time the period was over, Westbrook had scored 19 of his team’s 38 points and the Thunder trailed only 88-85 heading into the final 12 minutes.
"Russell was the catalyst, getting to the rim, finishing. We just followed that lead and played hard on the defensive end," Durant said, adding: "(We) withstood a couple of leads they had and just kept playing through it and were able to get some stops in the fourth."
A Durant 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter tied the game at 88-all, but it wasn’t a sign of things to come. Durant would miss eight consecutive shots before he hit one of the biggest – a 17-foot jumper over Andre Iguodala that put the Thunder up 105-100 with 30.7 seconds to play.
Like Westbrook, Durant stayed confident despite the misses and impacted the game with his rebounding, defense and leadership. He and Westbrook found open teammates and they delivered, from Dion Waiters’ corner 3 that put the Thunder up 93-89 to Steven Adams’ short hook in the lane for a 101-93 lead.
"The belief, the competitiveness, the ability to come back with resolve and continue to battle and fight, I mean, (Westbrook) played an exceptional second half in every facet," Donovan said. "He scored for us, he created opportunities for other guys. He played very, very well.
"I give Kevin the same credit as well. He had some good looks that didn't go down for him, and he hung there with it and made a big shot late."
The Thunder stayed together, controlled their emotions and in doing so, posted their third consecutive playoff road victory on two courts – San Antonio and Golden State – where the rest of the NBA won a combined three games in the regular season.
"Our guys, I think they understand what they're walking into," Donovan said, later adding: "The first thing is to embrace the fact that it's going to be hard. That's the first thing. It's not going to be easy, and it was a struggle tonight. It was. It was a struggle for us. But I thought we had some resiliency and resolve and we kind of pushed through."