Playoffs

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Royce Young on the journey back to the playoffs

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Another chapter in the Thunder story

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OAKLAND – Bleary-eyed and both physically and emotionally spent, the Thunder walked off the court on Monday night for the final time in the 2015-16 season. Losing to the 73-win Golden State Warriors in an epic seven-game series was painful, but as each player embraced his brothers and the Thunder staff it was clear – this is an extremely special group.

It was a 96-88 loss to the Warriors in Game 7 as the Thunder fell 4-3, just narrowly missing out on a chance to make it to the NBA Finals for the second time in team history. Despite dropping Games 5 and 6, the Thunder displayed no signs of an emotional hangover.

Instead, it was a steely resolve and excellent team play that allowed Head Coach Billy Donovan’s team to rack up a 13-point lead in the first half. The Thunder showed composure and toughness to shake off the past two losses, and gave Golden State everything it could handle before the Warriors rained in enough contested three-pointers to break away in the second half.

“We were right there every step of the way with them,” Donovan said. “This was a record-setting team and a team that's won a World Championship. So you can sit there, what happened. You've just got to give them credit.”

“They beat us in the three-point line the last two games,” Durant said. “We beat them everywhere else, they beat us from the three-point line, and that was the series.”

Behind seven straight points from Durant, the Thunder was storming back into the game, turning an 11-point deficit with 2:57 to go into just a four-point hole. It seemed that all it needed was one more stop. Warriors forward Draymond Green almost lost the ball, but dove on it while Durant and Russell Westbrook wrestled him for control of the ball.

Green was awarded a timeout, and after the break Stephen Curry was fouled behind the three-point line with 1.9 seconds left on the shot clock. It was a backbreaking moment that thwarted the Thunder’s rally and sealed the fate of this Western Conference Finals.

“When we fouled on the three-point shot, I think that was a dagger for us,” Durant said. “That kind of hurt us. We had some momentum going down… We had got the stop and the rebound, and I was feeling good. Coach was coming back to me. Russell was coming back to me. I felt good. But, hey, there are a lot of what-ifs. We could have said a lot of what-ifs throughout the whole playoffs.”

The Thunder seemed to be in control for most of the first half, but the tide turned in the third quarter, when the Warriors ripped off a 29-12 quarter behind some incredible shooting. A stretch of four three-pointers on six possessions was a gut punch for the Thunder, as the Warriors took the lead for good mid-way through the period. On the night, the Warriors shot 17-for-37 (45.9 percent) from behind the arc, and an incredible number of those shots were over the outstretched hands of Thunder big men who did their best to contest shots.

“Their shot-making in that third quarter, especially from the three of point line was the difference in the game,” Donovan said.

Overall, the Thunder played a clean game, only turning the ball over seven times and generating looks for teammates through ball movement and spacing. It was clear from the outset that Durant and Westbrook looked to get their teammates involved early and often, with Westbrook running high screen and roll with Steven Adams repeatedly in the opening quarter.

Unfortunately the Thunder missed a bunch of open looks from the three-point line and had some chip shots rim out in the paint. For the night, the Thunder shot just 38.2 percent, but showed a clear commitment to generating high percentage shots through trusting the system. That bodes well for the team as it turns the page to the offseason and a continued commitment to improvement.

“I was really happy with our offense,” Donovan said. “We drove the ball to the basket. We extra-passed it. We generated really good shots. Like anything in a 48-minute game, you're going to have some possessions you don't like or a turnover.”

“The habits that we were able to build during the course of these playoffs, how can we continue to build next year in training camp,” Donovan asked, rhetorically. “In terms of how do we come in and take these experiences we've all been through and utilize them to grow and develop and maybe be more prepared?”

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16-3 – Advantage in second chance points for the Thunder on the night, thanks to 14 offensive rebounds

17-for-37 – Three-point shooting numbers for the Warriors, compared to the Thunder’s 7-for-27 mark

42 – Points for the Warriors in the first half, the fewest in a half in Oakland for Golden State in the postseason- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“I’m proud of all the guys, win or lose, proud of everybody for the effort they put in. The things you guys don't see every day which is coming in, the hard work they put in, the sacrifice they make for everybody in the organization. Just proud. It's a journey. A lot of people just see the basketball games, but they don't see everything else behind the scenes, and that's what I'm proud of the guys for. Staying together and continuing to get better day by day throughout the whole season.” – Kevin Durant

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Thunder at Golden State Warriors Game 7 Recap – May 30, 2016

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Game 7: Thunder at Warriors - May 30, 2016

OAKLAND – All of the noise, the predictions, the narratives and the analysis hovers around the periphery. Inside the lines on the court at Oracle Arena tonight, all of that will go silent.

History, past experience, statistics and everything else goes out the window once the ball is tipped tonight in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals between the Thunder and the Golden State Warriors. It’s a full on battle to determine who advances to the NBA Finals and neither team will relent until the final buzzer sounds, leaving the court with nothing left in the tank.

“This is a great moment that not a lot of people get an opportunity to enjoy. We have to move on and play the game. We still have 48 minutes of basketball to play,” Kevin Durant said. “We just have to go out there and play hard basketball for 48 minutes and walk off that court with no regrets no matter what.”

“It's not about anything outside of the lines or what's going on in the world or in the basketball world or whatever,” Durant added. “It's all about what's going on in between those lines. That's what's most important. Those 10 guys on the court. That's what basketball is all about. We're excited for that.”

This will now be the 10th game that these two teams have played against one another this season. For Head Coach Billy Donovan and his staff, there are no major surprises to unveil or to expect. Both teams simply have so much knowledge about one another that it all comes down to the execution, and whether shots go in or out of the basket. It will be an absolute beast of a challenge against the Warriors, who won a record 73 games in the regular season and hadn’t lost consecutive games all year until the Thunder won in Games 3 and 4.

“We know all about this team. We know what we have to do,” Durant said. “It's just a matter of us going out there and playing with extreme effort and leaving it all out there and feeling confident that we can go in there and get this done. I think all the guys feel confident.”

“You're also doing it against a team that over the last two years has won an NBA championship and has a historic mark of winning more regular-season games than any team in the history of the league,” Donovan said. “So we're playing against a terrific opponent. The opportunity to play against them I think has really made our team better in a lot of different areas besides in between the lines.”

The four core areas for the Thunder all season long that have determined success were preventing turnovers, getting back in transition, defending the three-point line and securing defensive rebounds. All of those facets of the game will be tested tonight, and the Thunder must do a good job in order to win and move on. Most crucial of all against this Warriors team is preventing shots behind the arc, and the Thunder knows it is unsustainable to allow 44 three-point attempts as it did in Game 6.

“No question, they’re a terrific three-point shooting team and you have to be aware of that,” Donovan said. “We have to do a good job of being where we’re supposed to be and we’re going to have to live with the result of that.”

On the offensive end, the Thunder wants to draw defenders by attacking the rim and driving into the paint and then kicking out to the perimeter for either open jump shots or secondary drives. One of the best plays for the Thunder in Game 6 was when Dion Waiters drove baseline, three defenders converged and then he passed out to Russell Westbrook, who attacked a defender trying to close out to him, earning a wide open layup in the process. Plays like that will help the Thunder as it tries to get high-percentage looks at the rim each trip down court.

“When you can generate two on the ball and the ball comes out, now the defense is scrambling and now you’re in position to make decisions in terms of attacking the paint and attacking closeouts,” Donovan explained. “Then you can generate extra passes and ball movement and those kind of things.”

“We have to trust the pass, we have to move the ball, we have to collectively guard as a group,” Donovan summarized. “We have to be prepared to help one another. We have to basically rebound the ball collectively.”

Television: TNT, Postgame on Fox Sports Oklahoma

Radio: WWLS the Sports Animal and the Thunder Radio Network

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INTEGRIS Game Day Report: Thunder at Golden State Warriors – Game 7 – May 30, 2016

“If you ask anybody coming into the season if you want one game to go to the NBA Finals, they'll sign up for that,” an upbeat Kevin Durant said on Sunday morning.

Before the Thunder embarked for Oakland and a Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors, the team held a practice where players and coaches re-centered themselves for the win-or-go-home challenge that awaits them in Oracle Arena on Monday night. Durant, Russell Westbrook and this experienced Thunder team recognizes that Game 6’s 108-101 loss is in the rearview mirror. The only thing they can control is the road ahead of them.

“You've just got to lose yourself and get really deep into the task at hand and enjoy it at the same time and not put too much pressure on yourself. I think from the first to the 15th guy, we've got to enjoy this process,” Durant explained. “We've got to be excited for this opportunity and know that it doesn't come around often and take advantage of it.”

There’s no doubt the Thunder would have loved to close out the Warriors in either Game 5 or 6 when it had the opportunity to, but there’s no use in lingering over that now. As Durant mentioned at practice, no one in Oakland, in the press or the outside world will feel sorry for them, so they can’t waste any time feeling sorry for themselves.

That’s why the biggest takeaway from Thunder practice today wasn’t the analysis of the x’s and o’s against a 73-win team that Head Coach Billy Donovan has now scouted nine times this season. The number one reason for optimism in the INTEGRIS Thunder Development Center, as it has been for nearly a decade, was the people themselves and the attitudes they carried into the facility as they aim to clinch a berth in the NBA Finals.

“We lost Game 6, and it was a tough, hard-fought game. We're disappointed about not having a different outcome. But we haven't lost the series, and we have an opportunity again,” Donovan said. “Just being around these guys, they're a resilient group. They're looking forward to getting prepared today and shootaround tomorrow and getting ready to play.”

“This is what you dream about, getting this opportunity,” Durant added. “We've got to take advantage of it. Go up into their building, and it's going to be great atmosphere. We're looking forward to the opportunity.”

All series long the Thunder has shown that they can battle with the Warriors and hang with them blow by blow. In Game 1, Donovan’s group gutted out a victory on the road and then earned two blowout victories in Oklahoma City in Games 3 and 4. Despite falling in two close contests over the past four days, the Thunder has faith – in its people, its methods and its connectedness – to put together a 48-minute effort filled with relentlessness, a will to win and a dedication to the team above anything else.

“It's Game 7. Just got to come out and perform our best,” said Steven Adams, laying it out there like the Thunder will do on the floor Monday night.

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Game 7 the Opportunity of a Lifetime

Flat-footed from 28 feet away at the top of the key, Golden State Warriors’ guard Klay Thompson barely squared his hips to the basket before flinging a three-pointer at the rim. It sank through the net, and sparked a 19-5 Warriors run to close out Game 6.

After Kevin Durant drove left and hit a tough mid-range jumper to make it 96-89 Thunder with 5:09 to go, it seemed Oklahoma City was in control, but a barrage of buckets on one end went unmatched by the Thunder as it fell 108-101 to the Warriors. This epic Western Conference Finals series stands tied 3-3 as the teams travel back to Oakland for Monday night’s Game 7 (8 p.m. CT, TNT).

For Head Coach Billy Donovan, it felt like the Thunder didn’t put together great offensive possessions. In the fourth quarter, the Thunder turned the ball over six times and shot just 5-for-19. The Warriors turned it over only once and hit 8-of-13 fourth quarter three-pointers. Thompson finished with 41 points and an NBA playoff record 11 three-pointers. The Thunder outscored Golden State 52-28 in the paint, but the Warriors made 21-of-44 three-pointers while the Thunder hit just 3-of-23 attempts from behind the arc.

“There are some things on that stat sheet that are really difficult to overcome and we kind of were hanging around there and giving ourselves a chance,” Donovan said.

“In the fourth quarter, the performance by Klay Thompson and how well he shot the ball, then I felt like we didn’t do a great job coming down the stretch,” Donovan said. “We got a little stagnant coming down the stretch. Defensively, we were a little bit late, but they made some tough shots and made some plays.”

After committing just three turnovers in the first half, the Thunder didn’t hang onto the ball as well as it would have liked in the second half, resulting in 12 turnovers that led to 19 Golden State points. Whether it was spacing, decisions or a bad bounce of the ball, the Thunder didn’t quite get into an offensive flow and it led to 40 percent shooting and allowed the Warriors to play without having to pull the ball out of the net.

“They got some hands on some balls,” said point guard Russell Westbrook, who came up one rebound shy of a triple-double with 28 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. “They trapped and made us make some decisions, but for the most part I thought we tried to make the right plays and make the right decisions.”

“On some of the switching we needed to have better awareness rolling back,” Donovan added. “Some guys when they did switch had some opportunities to kind of go, but we didn’t. In the half court I just didn’t feel like we ran our offense with the pace and the tempo that we needed to run it.”

It was a gutty effort, backed by an absolutely raucous crowd in Chesapeake Energy Arena, for the Thunder to even be in position to win the game down the stretch. When Andre Roberson scored on a put back to put the Thunder up 101-99 with 2:22 to go, the building nearly erupted. After that, however, the Thunder turned the ball over five times and Kevin Durant missed a three-pointer, part of an uncharacteristic 10-for-31 shooting night as he finished with 29 points. This late in the series, both teams are dialed in on opponents’ scouting reports and not much is a surprise. Sometimes, this really is a make-or-miss league.

“We know exactly what they do. They know exactly what we do,” Durant said. “It’s just a matter of who wants it more. Both teams went out there and played extremely hard. They made more shots than we did, especially from the three. That’s the name of the game tonight.”

The Thunder led a record setting 73-win team 3-1 in this series and despite not being able to capitalize on these past two closeout opportunities, Donovan’s club is confident that it can go into Oakland and do what it did in Game 1 – come away victorious. With all the Thunder has been through this season on and off the floor and all the injuries and adversity it has faced in seasons past, the team has developed a steely resolve, and all of that courage will be necessary on Monday.

“We have another game to play. We’re excited about that,” Durant said. “We get another opportunity and we can’t hang our heads.”

“Win or go home. Simple as that,” Westbrook stated.

15-for-43 – Shooting numbers for the Warriors inside the two-point line, including 1-for-8 outside the paint

20-for-58 – Shooting numbers combined for Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who scored 57 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, made 14 assists, six steals and three blocks

52-28 – The Thunder’s edge in points in the paint, while the Warriors made 18 more three-pointers than the Thunder did- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“The opportunity to go back and play again is what I’m excited about. This group, just being around them, has been a pretty resilient, tough-minded group in terms of being able to bounce back quickly and go out and play.” – Head Coach Billy Donovan

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Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors Game 6 Recap – May 28, 2016

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Game 6: Thunder vs. Warriors - May 28, 2016

If the way the Thunder has carried itself in tense moments so far in this Western Conference Finals is any indication, the faithful in Chesapeake Energy Arena can feel strongly that Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club is prepared for the wars to come in Game 6.

Coming up just short of closing out the defending champion and 73-game winning Golden State Warriors in Game 5 out in Oakland was of course not the outcome the Thunder was looking for, but it played with composure, maximum effort and togetherness. As it gears up for this heavyweight slugfest of a Game 6 at home, the Thunder’s leadership recognizes the importance of maintaining that type of razor sharp focus, and dismissing any thoughts of the external circumstances of the series.

“I've been really pleased with our guys the way they've handled themselves and the way they've been composed and trying to move to the next play and move on to the next possession,” Donovan said.

“There are things in the game that we need to do better going into this next game. But we've got to play the 48 minutes,” Donovan explained. “That's really what it comes down to. You can get caught up in thinking about the future and what the results mean at the end of the game, but the bottom line is the result at the end of the game will happen, and what you don't want to do is be focused on the result and forget to do your job during the course of 48 minutes.”

There are concrete areas on the basketball court that the Thunder simply must execute upon in order to have success against this Warriors team. It’s been clear that the Warriors try to manipulate off-ball screening actions between guards like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to generate diving cuts to the rim or flare outs behind the three-point line. To handle those situations the Thunder has to recognize them, call them out and then utilize proper footwork to deter potential passes for open looks.

“It really is understanding positioning and what's happening,” Donovan explained. “All that stuff comes back and starts with communication. If communication's not good, it's really, really hard to get the technique down.”

“Early communication allows you to create the technique that you need to play specific screening and cutting actions in a particular way that helps you,” Donovan continued. “We've done a pretty good job during the series of trying to communicate and defend, and have given very, very good effort.”

Missed shots, the Thunder’s obvious number one goal on defense, lead directly to rebounding opportunities. Throughout the series, rebounding has been a bit of an indicator of team success, with the team who won the battle of the boards coming out victorious in each game. For the series, the Thunder is out-rebounding Golden State by six boards per game, and is averaging one more offensive rebound per game. The Warriors have still managed to rack up 10.4 offensive rebounds per game, a number that will have to be kept in check in Game 6 to prevent second chance points.

“From a rebounding perspective, it's got to be a collective effort by our group, and we've got to do a good job in that area,” Donovan said. “Last night they did a good job of generating some offensive rebounds and some second-chance points and some and one opportunities.”

On the offensive end, the Thunder needs to play with pace as much as possible. Getting its long, rangy athletes out into space has been the most effective way that Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant have been able to generate easy layups at the rim and to get complementary scorers like Serge Ibaka, Andre Roberson, Steven Adams and Dion Waiters involved in the secondary break for catch and shoots or finishes in the paint. In the halfcourt, the Thunder has to maintain a disciplined approach of moving the ball, keeping the floor balanced and attacking the rim to draw help and generate fouls.

“Everybody's defense is built around help and support and rim protection, and building out the three-point line, and understanding and recognizing and reading defenses and making those kind of decisions help things,” Donovan pointed out.

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INTEGRIS Game Day Report: Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors Game 6 – May 28, 2016

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