The Western Conference Finals are tied at one game apiece after the Warriors earned a 118-91 blowout victory over the Thunder in Game 2 on Wednesday night.
The Western Conference Finals are tied at one game apiece after the Warriors earned a 118-91 blowout victory over the Thunder in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Stephen Curry led Golden State with 29 points, including 17 in the third quarter alone. Klay Thompson added 15 points and four rebounds, while Andre Iguodala came off the bench to score 14 points. Now tied 1-1, the series will transition to Oklahoma City for Game 3 on Sunday.
GAME LEADERS
The Warriors went the entire regular season without losing consecutive games. With a runaway victory in Game 2, they still haven’t lost consecutive postseason contests either. Golden State had a fortuitous start to the game, as each of their first three baskets came by way of a three-pointer. Oklahoma City hung right with them, though, so after the Thunder had come within 14-13, Stephen Curry took it upon himself to put some distance between the two sides with the first of two sensational scoring flurries on the night. In this particular sequence, Curry scored nine-straight points for Golden State in a span of 75 seconds, bookended by two three-pointers. That would put the Dubs up 22-16 with 3:40 left in the first frame, and his finger roll in the final seconds increased that margin by a single point, as the Warriors carried a 27-20 lead into the second quarter.
Curry wasn’t the only superstar on the floor on Wednesday night, a point made quite clear by Kevin Durant in the second quarter. He scored 10-straight points for Oklahoma City, pulling the Thunder within 35-32 with back-to-back three-pointers after Golden State had pushed their lead to double-digits. He’d hit a pull-up jumper to trim the deficit to two points at the 4:35 mark, and his dunk off an alley-oop from Russell Westbrook gave him 16 points in the frame and pulled Oklahoma City even at 49-49 with 1:35 remaining in the half. Those would prove to be the Thunder’s final points of the quarter, however, as the Warriors closed out the half on a 8-0 run to win the frame and take a 57-49 advantage into halftime.
Curry would not be outdone, though, and the third quarter provided the setting for his most impressive sequence of the entire night. After the Thunder had closed within 64-57 with 7:23 left in the third quarter, the first-ever unanimous league MVP broke the game open in the blink of an eye. His three-pointer on the ensuing possession began a stretch in which he’d score 15-straight points for Golden State, all within a span of one minute and 58 seconds. Durant’s jumper proved to be the only points from any other player on the court throughout that incendiary display, and when it was all over, Golden State found themselves up 79-58 with 5:11 remaining in the third frame. Curry would add another layup for a total of 17 points in the quarter, and Draymond Green’s tip-in with 13.7 seconds left gave the Dubs a commanding 88-68 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter.
Unfortunately for Oklahoma City, the deficit would only grow from there. Golden State opened the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 99-70 lead just three minutes into the frame, and after the Thunder had trimmed four points off the deficit, Golden State responded with nine-straight points to put an end to any thoughts of an historic comeback. Golden State would take their largest lead of the entire game with 2:42 remaining in regulation after Harrison Barnes followed Marreese Speights’ three-pointer with a jumper of his own to put the Warriors up 117-82. With the win well in hand, the Warriors would coast the rest of the way to the eventual 118-91 victory.
With the victory, Golden State evens the series 1-1. The Western Conference Finals will now transition to Oklahoma City for the next two games, beginning with Game 3 on Sunday.