The Warriors earned a 121-118 overtime road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, and in the process, secured a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive season.
The Warriors earned a 121-118 overtime road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, and in the process, secured a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive season. Stephen Curry led Golden State with 46 points, including a game-winning 37-foot three-pointer in the final second of overtime to clinch the victory. His 12 three-pointers on the night pushed his total to 288 treys on the season, breaking his own single-season record of 286 set just last year. Klay Thompson added 32 points, while Draymond Green notched a double-double with 14 rebounds and 14 assists. With the victory, the Warriors improve to 53-5 on the season.
GAME LEADERS
It seems the only person that can one-up Stephen Curry is himself. But before his incredible game-winning shot just before the buzzer at the end of the overtime period, the Warriors had to work their way back into the game, thanks in large part to a poor start to the contest. Oklahoma City scored the first eight points of the game and opened up an 18-5 lead within the first six minutes of the opening quarter, creating a deficit that the Warriors would struggle to climb all the way out of. After Serge Ibaka’s dunk with 2:58 remaining in the frame put the Thunder up 28-14, Andre Iguodala would shoot a perfect 3-for-3 from the field through the rest of the quarter, sending the game into the second quarter with Oklahoma City holding a 30-20 advantage.
Halfway through the second quarter, Golden State trailed 40-30, but a sequence of three three-pointers from Curry in exactly 80 seconds pulled the Warriors within 42-41 with 4:25 left to play. That’s as close as they’d get for awhile, however, as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to rebuild the Thunder’s lead. Curry’s layup was followed by a Steven Adams’ layup on the ensuing possession, closing out the scoring in the quarter and sending the game into halftime with the Warriors trailing 57-46.
The Warriors opened the second half on a 6-0 run, but Curry twisted his ankle on a driving layup attempt and had to depart the game for the locker room, halting Golden State’s momentum. By the time he re-entered the game with 5:10 remaining in the quarter, the Warriors trailed 71-63, but would then begin to mount a comeback behind the reigning MVP. After Marreese Speights converted a jumper from Draymond Green on the ensuing possession, Curry scored or assisted on all of Golden State’s points in the remainder of the quarter. His two free throws at the 2:27 mark pulled the Warriors even for the first time at 75-75, and his three-pointer a minute later gave Golden State their first lead of the contest at 78-77. It would be a short-lived lead, however, as Durant closed out the frame with two three-pointers to give the Thunder an 83-78 lead. At the time, Curry was 7-of-10 from three-point range, while the rest of Golden State had combined to go 0-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Oklahoma City opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run and would lead by as many as 11 points with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, but the reigning champions would not be denied. An 8-0 Warriors’ run would pull Golden State within 96-93 with 2:21 left to play. After two Durant free throws, Curry’s final three-pointer in regulation pulled the Dubs within two points, but Ibaka’s jumper on the ensuing possession pushed Oklahoma City’s lead to 100-96 with 1:13 remaining. Klay Thompson converted the first non-Curry three-pointer of the game to climb within one, but Durant’s three-pointer in response with 14.5 seconds left seemed to salt the game away. And yet, it didn’t. Klay Thompson got a layup with 11.8 seconds left to cut the deficit to 103-101. Then, after the Thunder inbounded Durant, Thompson deflected Durant’s outlet pass, which was eventually tracked down by Draymond Green just inside the sideline. Green passed it back to Thompson, who found a wide-open Andre Iguodala inside the three-point arc. Iguodala rose up and released a shot, but was fouled in the process, sending him to the line for two free throws with a chance to tie the game with 0.7 seconds left in regulation. The reigning Finals MVP put on yet another clutch display, sinking both free throws to tie the game. Durant’s turnaround jumper off the inbound fell short, sending the game into overtime.
The Thunder opened the extra period on a 5-0 run, but Durant picked up his sixth personal foul and was forced from the game just 47 seconds into overtime, swinging the momentum in favor of Golden State. Curry responded with four-straight points, and after Serge Ibaka’s layup put Oklahoma City up 110-107, Curry tied the game up again with 2:29 remaining with his 11th three-pointer on the night. That trey pushed his season total to 287 three-pointers, breaking his own single-season record set just last year. However, unfortunately for Oklahoma City, Curry’s scintillating display from long range wasn’t over just yet. Andre Roberson’s layup put the Thunder up 118-115 with 33.9 seconds remaining, but that ultimately proved to be Oklahoma City’s final points on the night. Coming out of a timeout, Klay Thompson converted an and-one opportunity, tying things up at 118-118 with 29.5 seconds left. Oklahoma City called timeout, but Westbrook’s ensuing jumper fell short, as Iguodala gathered the rebound. Rather than call timeout, Iguodala found Curry, who glided past half court and launched a majestic 37-footer in the final seconds of overtime, and found nothing but net with 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock. Curry’s longest converted shot of the game proved to be his 12th three-pointer on the night, tying Donyell Marshall and Kobe Bryant’s NBA record for the most three-pointers in a single game. Westbrook’s last-ditch heave fell short again, as the Warriors escaped with an astonishing 121-118 road victory.
While Golden State made sure by winning, they had actually already secured a playoff berth as a result of Houston’s loss to San Antonio earlier in the night. They are the first team to secure a playoff berth in February since the 1987-88 Los Angeles Lakers. With the win, the Warriors improve to 53-5 on the season and close out their six-game road trip with a 5-1 record. Golden State will now play 17 of their final 24 games of the season at Oracle Arena, beginning on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Hawks.