The Warriors are on the brink of elimination after falling 118-94 to the Thunder in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
GAME LEADERS
The Warriors fell behind 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals after suffering a 118-94 defeat in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Losers of consecutive games for the first time this season, the Warriors’ collective backs are against the wall and now must win three straight games against the Thunder in order to avoid elimination.
The Game 4 defeat went much like Game 3. The Thunder started strong, the Dubs battled back initially before an Oklahoma City blitz ultimately broke the game open in the second quarter. Klay Thompson caught fire for the Dubs to bring them back into it in the third quarter, but ultimately the Dubs couldn’t match the Thunder’s aggressiveness.
Only nine out of 232 teams have ever overcome a 3-1 series deficit, and in order for the Dubs to become the 10th, they’ll need to get back to what made them successful during their history-making 73-win regular season. That starts with the Splash Brothers and extends through what has been a deep and effective bench all season long.
One way to achieve that would be clean up the unforced turnovers, avoid quick contested shots and be more effective on the glass. The Dubs dug themselves a hole early with four turnovers during and three missed shots during a 16-0 Thunder run in which Oklahoma City scored on seven of eight possessions.
The Warriors, however, did weather that early storm and trimmed a 14-point deficit down to four by the end of the first quarter, thanks in large part to a quarter-ending 11-2 run in which all scoring came courtesy of the Dubs’ reserves.
That momentum was short-lived, as the Thunder closed the second quarter on a 24-11 run to score 72 points in the first half for the second straight game. The Thunder led by 19 at the break, but a white hot third quarter from Klay Thompson helped the Dubs pick away at the deficit. The Splash Brother scored 19 straight Warriors points in the period, the only one in which the Dubs out-scored Oklahoma City. Thompson finished with a team-high 26 points and Stephen Curry added 19 on 6-for-20 shooting for the Dubs, while Oklahoma City’s superstar Russell Westbrook posted a triple-double (36 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) and Kevin Durant added 26 points and 11 boards.
Now facing elimination, the Warriors will look to extend their season when the Western Conference Finals return to Warriors Ground for Game 5 on Thursday.