By Gabe Schapiro
Welcome to Oakland Andre Iguodala.
On Thursday night the Golden State Warriors (6-3) won in thrilling fashion, 116-115, over the Oklahoma City Thunder (5-3). Iguodala was already making a name for himself with the Warriors, and anyone he hadn’t already won over is officially on board now. With 2.3 seconds remaining and the team down two, the ball went to Iguodala who nailed a three from the corner to beat the buzzer, sending the crowd into a frenzy, and sending the crowd home happy.
In this one both teams hit the ground sprinting. The first quarter featured few missed shots from either side, as the Thunder started particularly hot, shooting and incredible 68.4% from the field. They were also totally owning the boards, hauling in 16 rebounds compared to Golden State’s four. The Warriors kept the game close, however, thanks to eight Oklahoma City turnovers and some nice shooting of their own. Klay Thompson had an early nine points to lead the way, as Golden State got points from eight different players in the first frame. After 12 minutes, which saw 11 lead changes, the Thunder had a slight 33-32 lead.
The second quarter saw both teams slowly come down to earth a bit, but the same fast paced and close action continued. David Lee started to come alive, chipping in 10 in the quarter. Thompson stayed hot and added seven more to his total. Stephen Curry started to catch fire, contributing six points and four assists. In another extremely evenly played quarter, the teams were dead-locked at 62-62 heading into halftime.
Coming out of the locker rooms the Warriors grabbed the momentum and started to pull away. Curry took over the game for stretches, as Golden State led by as many as 14. Heading into the final frame the Warriors held a 95-86 lead.
At the start of the fourth Golden State seemed to almost be coasting, as they had little trouble maintaining a comfortable lead. With about six minutes remaining, however, the Thunder started to make a run. They got hot and the Warriors got cold. Golden State managed to hold onto their lead despite their struggles and the occasional miscue, up until Russell Westbrook stuck a dagger into the hearts of Warriors fans, hitting a deep three with 2.3 seconds left to give them the two point lead. All was not lost, however, as in stepped Iguodala to save the day. On a quick in bounds pass from Thompson, Iguodala turned and hit the fade-away three-pointer from the corner, over the out-stretched arm of the defender. Nothing but net.
Iguodala finished with 14 points and nine assists. Thompson had team-high 27. Curry just missed a double-double with 22 points and nine assists. Harrison Barnes had a great game off the bench, contributing 16 points in 23 minutes.
In the losing effort Westbrook had a game-high 30 points to go along with nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Serge Ibaka had a double-double, posting 27 points and 13 boards. Keving Durant, who was relatively quiet by his standards, had 20 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
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