OAKLAND – For the entirety of the first half, a shorthanded Thunder squad grinded it out and went toe-to-toe with the Golden State Warriors, forcing 13 turnovers and making every possession a challenge. In the third quarter, Golden State broke away with a pair of quick bursts, as they’re prone to do.
It was a 37-point third quarter for the Warriors that changed the game, a period in which they didn’t turn the ball over and used bursts of 8-0 and 10-2 to eventually build a 15-point lead late in the period. From there, Golden State didn’t look back and the Thunder was chasing uphill.
“That was a huge difference,” Head Coach Billy Donovan said of the turnover disparity in the third quarter, 5-0 in favor of Golden State). “As a group, taking care of the basketball was going to be really important. The reason the score was tied at halftime was that we had 11 turnovers and they had 13. They’re a prolific three-point shooting team. Our activity on defense was really good.”
“Them taking care of the ball and the turnover margin, at the end of the day, kind of hurt us,” Donovan continued. “They’re an active team that can switch and do a lot of different things and get their hands on a lot of basketballs.”
Down just two with eight-and-a-half minutes left in the third, play stopped with Thunder forward Domas Sabonis poised to knock down a wide open three, but the officials stopped the play to reset the shot clock. What ensued was a change of momentum and an 8-0 Warriors run behind three Thunder turnovers and a pair of Golden State three-pointers.
“(The turnovers) were big,” point guard Russell Westbrook said. “They scored off of almost all of them. That’s what they do, especially here at home.”
“We scored 22 points in the third, and you’re going to have to score some points,” Donovan echoed. “That was a really low scoring quarter for us, coupled with some turnovers, coupled with the fact that they shot the ball extremely well.”
To begin the fourth the Warriors jumped out to a 7-0 run, and the Thunder didn’t hit enough shots, get enough stops or have enough time to make a comeback. Ultimately, the loss came down to three factors – fast break points, points off turnovers and rebounding. The Thunder was outscored 29-12 in transition, turned the ball over 19 times leading to 29 Warriors points and was out-rebounded by 10, allowing 16 second chance points. Even against an exceptional team like Golden State, those are correctable areas of the game that the Thunder tries to, and believes, it can control every night.
“(In the first half) we were physical. We did a good job of playing our tempo,” Westbrook explained. “In the second half we loosened up a little bit and they made some runs.”
While Jerami Grant started again in place of Steven Adams, Enes Kanter picked up the load as the Thunder’s big man in the middle by racking up 22 points, playing solid defense and bringing a physicality around the rim. On the perimeter, Victor Oladipo aided the cause by knocking down four three-pointers and scoring 20 points. The catalyst for the Thunder was Westbrook, who racked up his 21st triple-double of the season and 58th of his career with a 27-point, 15-rebound, 13-assist effort. He’s now one triple-double away from tying Larry Bird for fifth on the all-time NBA career list.
Thunder-Warriors Highlights: Jan. 18, 2017 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
By the Numbers
1 – Triple-double until Russell Westbrook ties Larry Bird for the fifth-most career triple-doubles in NBA history, as Westbrook achieved his 58th career triple-double and 21st of the season
29 – Both the number of fast break points and the number of points off of 19 Thunder turnovers that the Warriors scored
42 – Combined points for Victor Oladipo and Enes Kanter tonight- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Last Word
“Overall, it’s trying to maintain a level of stamina for 48 minutes. We did it for the first half and at times in the second half but we’re playing against a tremendous team.” – Head Coach Billy Donovan