The Warriors put together a complete effort in a 108-88 win over the Thunder on Saturday night in Oklahoma City.
The Warriors put together a complete effort in a 110-88 win over the Thunder on Saturday night in Oklahoma City.
TEAM LEADERS
With the win, the Warriors officially clinch a playoff spot, as they can finish no worse than eighth place in the West even if they lost all of their remaining games. Now 47-21, the Dubs remain atop the West and hold a one game lead over the Nuggets with 14 games left in the regular season. This will mark the seventh straight season the Dubs are in the playoffs, a new franchise record for consecutive postseason appearances.
The Dubs started strong, getting contributions from pretty much everyone. Stephen Curry had 13 of his game-high 33 points in the opening quarter and in the process surpassed 16,000 career points, becoming the fifth player in franchise history to reach that milestone.
Klay Thompson also had a notable milestone, passing Sacramento Kings legend Peja Stojakovic for 17th on the NBA’s all-time made 3-pointers list in the first quarter. Thompson finished with a trio of 3-pointers on the night and with 1,763 career splashes, sits 24 treys behind Rashad Lewis (1,787) for 16th. But perhaps Thompson's best play of the game came via a right-handed hammer off a sweet dish from Andre Iguodala.
The Splash Brothers weren’t the only ones connecting from distance. Four different Warriors starters made a 3-pointer in the first quarter, including two apiece from Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green. Quinn Cook and Alfonzo McKinnie would hit a trey in the second quarter, and the Dubs as a team went 10-for-18 from distance while shooting better than 53 percent overall in the first half.
While the Warriors were sinking shots, the Thunder struggled to make theirs. Oklahoma City shot just 32 percent from the floor and Russell Westbrook missed his first eight shots before getting his first to fall in the third period. He finished the game 2-for-16 from the floor for seven points, and the Thunder, the fourth highest scoring team in the NBA, were held to a season-low 88 points.
After ending the first half with a 13-3 run to push their lead back to 18, the Dubs, who never trailed in the game, maintained that double-digit advantage in the second half and picked up their eighth road win against a team with a winning percentage of .600 or better.
The Warriors, who were without Kevin Durant for the second straight game, are 2-0 on this four-game road trip, which picks back up on Monday in San Antonio.
More notables from the win:
- The Warriors clinched a playoff berth for the seventh-straight season, a new franchise record for consecutive postseason appearances. The previous record was six-straight playoff berths in the team's first six years of existence (1947-52).
- The Warriors improved to 47-21 (.691), the top mark in the Western Conference, and 23-11 on the road (.676) this season—the best road win percentage in the league… Golden State has won 19 of its last 23 road games and has now won at least 23 games on the road in each of the last six seasons… Golden State’s 23 road wins are tied for the seventh-most in franchise history.
- The Warriors won the season series against the Thunder, 2-1.
- Golden State earned its 11th 20-point win of the season (22-point margin).
- The Warriors held the Thunder to 32.3 percent from the field, a season-low field goal percentage for an opponent.
- The Warriors took a 6-3 lead on a Klay Thompson three-pointer with 10:27 to play in the first quarter and held the lead for the duration of the game… Oklahoma City never led in the contest.
- The Warriors recorded their 15th 40-point quarter of the season with a 40-point first quarter, the ninth time they’ve scored at least 40 points in the opening frame… The 40-point quarter is the most the Thunder have allowed in a first quarter this season.
- Tonight’s game marked the second of a four-game road trip for the Warriors, who have finished with a record of .500-or-better on all 18 road trips since the beginning of the 2014-15 season… The Warriors will next play at San Antonio on Monday (5 p.m. PDT) before finishing the road trip in Minnesota on Tuesday.
- Stephen Curry finished with 33 points, his 24th 30-point game of the season, while becoming the fifth player in Warriors history to score 16,000 points… Curry now has 16,027 career points, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain (17,783 points), Rick Barry (16,447), Paul Arizin (16,266) and Chris Mullin (16,235) on the Warriors’ all-time scoring list… With five threes (5-of-12 3FG), Curry surpassed his 2014-15 three-point total (286) and now has 289 threes on the season, the fourth most threes in a single-season in NBA history… Curry owns four of the top five three-point season in NBA history, including the NBA record with 402 threes in 2015-16.
- Klay Thompson finished with 23 points, his eighth consecutive 20-point game (career-best streak is nine-straight), including three threes (3-of-8 3FG), passing Peja Stojakovic (1,760) for sole possession of 17th place on the NBA’s all-time threes list with 1,763 career three-point field goals.
- DeMarcus Cousins tallied 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 27 minutes before leaving the game with a sore right ankle.
- Andre Iguodala made his 13th start of the season (second consecutive).
- Kevin Durant missed his second-straight game with a right ankle sprain.