Tag: Oklahoma City Thunder

Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, left, takes a shot over Oklahoma City Thunder guard Kenrich Williams at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Mon Feb 7, 2022 (AP News photo)

Warriors Get Past The Scrappy Thunder 110-98

By Barbara Mason

Monday night the Golden State Warriors (41-13) took on the OKC Thunder (17-36) at Paycom Center. OKC is a very young tenacious team that despite their record has had some nice wins lately beating the Trail Blazers twice, and the Mavericks. The Warriors held their own and picked up a win against the feisty Thunder 110-98 at Paycom Arena in Oklahoma City.

Reported to be out on Sunday night, Lugentz Dort did play in this game which was great news for the Thunder. The Warriors got Otto Porter Jr. and Andre Iguodala back for this game so some great news for Golden State as well.

The Thunder started the first quarter with some outstanding defense. At one point in the quarter the Warriors were shooting at 30% and committing some careless turnovers.

Down by eight points mid-way through the quarter the Warriors had pulled to within three points to end the quarter 23-20. OKC’s excellent defense in the quarter was overshadowed by poor shooting. The Warriors were really lacking from downtown going 3 of 14 in the quarter.

The Warriors took the lead to start the second quarter. After a rather sluggish start Golden State really began to pick up the intensity. Their offense was a lot more efficient in the second quarter and the three’s began to fall.

With the half winding down Golden State was beginning to wear down the Thunder, forcing turnovers and denying shots from inside and outside. At the half the Warriors led by double digits 56-46. Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors with 13 points and Jonathan Kuminga had 11 off the bench.

The Warriors did extend their lead in the third quarter 85-72. The Thunder were scoring far too many points off Warriors turnovers. The 13 point lead was not at all a comfortable lead and Golden State would have to hunker down to win this one.

This game went right down to the wire. The Thunder were down by five points with three minutes left in the game. The Warriors had three turnovers in a row in the final minutes which could have spelled disaster. Stephen and Klay Thompson scored monster three’s which put this game away 110-98.

A lot of credit to the scrappy Thunder who played a great defensive game. They just didn’t have enough fire power to take this game. Thompson had the high score with 21 points and Curry with 18. They had seven shots from downtown between them and closed this game out for Golden State. Kuminga had another great game with 16 points off the bench.

For a minute the Thunder had a glimmer of a possible win but it faded in the final minutes of this game. It was a nervous game but in the end the Warriors had won their ninth game in a row.

“We were just trying to hang on. I was glad to see Klay hit those shots. It’s great to have Klay back,” said Coach Kerr after the game. “I thought Jordan Poole played a fantastic game. JK is getting better every day,” he said. “It wasn’t a great night defensively.

Wednesday night the Warriors are off to play the Utah Jazz. Tipoff is scheduled for 7;00 PM.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) defends against the Oklahoma City Thunder forward Luguentz Dort (5) on Sat Oct 30, 2021 in Oklahoma City (AP News photo)

Golden State Handles OKC With Ease 103-82

By Barbara Mason

Draymond Green set the tempo early finishing with a triple double in their match up with the OKC Thunder (1-5). His energy was contagious offensively and defensively as he led Golden State (5-1) to a 103-82 win.

Saturday night the Warriors welcomed the Oklahoma City Thunder to Chase Center in game two of their eight game home stand. This is the second time in the last three games that they have seen this team. In their last meeting the Warriors came out on top 106-98 but had to come from behind after trailing at the half 59-48.

The Warriors had to perform defensively and that is just what they did in the first quarter of this game. They led 28-20 at the end of the opening quarter. Green was brilliant offensively as well as defensively.

At halftime the Warriors led 55-44 and we saw the tables turned with OKC trailing by eleven in this game. This was the Green show from the start of this game to the half. He scored fourteen points in the first two quarters. There were only six turnovers in the first half which was also something that needed to be cleaned up.

In the second half Golden State needed to continue the great defense that they had in the first half, contain those turnovers and continue the great ball movement that they show-cased in the first two quarters. These would be the keys in the second half of the game.

The Warriors played with a lot of grit to start this game and that’s what they needed to finish it. Stephen Curry only had five points in the half but with not only Green but Andrew Wiggins (11 pts) as well the team was managing beautifully. That’s what this roster does; they pick up where the others leave off.

Curry opened the third quarter with three threes and the Warriors had extended their lead to 20 (66-46). At 7:05 the three’s were falling for Golden State as they already had 14 in the first three quarters. Of those 14, six were shot by Steph Curry who was 6-12. With three quarters in the books the Warriors led 82-58.

With every quarter the Warriors had extended their lead and going into the fourth quarter seven guys had shot threes for Golden State. This was a beautifully executed game both offensively and defensively.

At 6:04 in the fourth quarter Jonathan Kuminga checked in to make his NBA debut. The 6’7” rookie would be looking for the first basket of his career. With two minutes left in the game Kuminga had his first basket and it was a three. The entire Golden State bench jumped up to celebrate this milestone. The starters got the fourth quarter off and let the bench take this one home 103-82.

This game was a far cry from what we saw in the last meeting with OKC. The Warriors controlled this game from start to finish with brilliant execution. In this game the Warriors hit 21 shots from downtown which accounted for 63 points. Ten different players had threes in the game which really highlights the strength of this roster.

Curry had the high score with 20 points in three quarters. Five players had double digits and the bench was solid as we have seen so often. After the last game which was a disappointment the Warriors really pulled out all the stops in this one. The win tonight puts the Warriors into first place in the Western Conference.

The Warriors (5-1) will be off until Wednesday when they will take on the Charlotte Hornets (4-2). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

The Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry (30) drives against the Oklahoma City Thunder’s forward Luguentz Dort (left) at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Tue Oct 26, 2021 (AP News photo)

Warriors Win Despite Horrific First Half 106-98

By Barbara Mason

The Golden State Warriors (4-0) are coming off a nice win against the Sacramento Kings Sunday night 119-107. Tonight the Warriors continue their two game road trip taking on the Oklahoma City (0-4) Thunder. Although OKC is not one of the elite and in fact struggling, the Warriors need to approach this game as they would against an elite team. They need to limit the turnovers as they did in Sacramento, and get a quick start on the Thunder. The Warriors had a rough start to the game in the first half but over came it with a 106-98 win beating the Thunder on Tuesday night at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

The first quarter was not how Golden State wanted to start off this game. They had an immediate turnover and fell behind significantly halfway through the quarter 16-6. The Thunder are the second worst shooting team in the league so this was an ugly start for the Warriors. The average age of the Thunder is 23 years old and so they are a very young team. Getting the early lead did nothing but allow the Thunder to build confidence

At the end of the first quarter the Warriors were still trailing but had cut the deficit to five points 34-29. They had trailed by as much as eleven points. Not known for their three point shooting the Thunder were 5 of 8. It was a surprising start that no one saw coming. OKC was shooting 59% to start the game.

The second quarter did not get much better for Golden State and after four minutes were trailing by 13 points 44-31. The Warriors were not even close to finding the three point range while the Thunder had seven players that had found that range. The final six minutes of the quarter saw the bench take over in an attempt to cut a fifteen point lead by OKC.

The Warriors went on a nice run but the Thunder punched right back. Golden State had pulled to within four points in the waning minutes of the half. The Thunder answered with a flurry of baskets taking a 59-48 lead after the second quarter. If the Warriors wanted to remain undefeated they would have a lot of work to do in the second half.

The difference in this game so far was the three point shooting of OKC. The Warrior’s defense really needed to do a better job in the remainder of this game. Golden State missed far too many open looks and so a better offense was also badly needed.

The only good news for the Warriors was that against a team like OKC catching up and taking the lead would be far easier than falling behind playing an elite team. Golden State had to improve on every level and they had two quarters left to do it.

The Warriors started the second half with more energy but they would have to overcome the confidence that OKC had built in the first half. That confidence began to wane as the Thunder’s lead grew smaller and in the final two minutes of the quarter the Warriors began hitting shots; two great shots by Otto Porter Jr both for three. At the end of the quarter the Warriors had taken the lead for the first time in this game 81-76.

OKC began struggling in the start of the fourth quarter. The Warriors got some great work from Damian Lee who finished with 20 points and was one of the deciding factors as was Andrew Wiggins with 21 points. The Golden State defense was solid in the final quarter another key to this win. For a second game in a row Steph Curry had zero points in the fourth quarter because he didn’t need to score. The bench took this one home for Golden State.

The Warriors will now head home for an eight game home stand starting Thursday with the Memphis Grizzlies. They will take on the Thunder for a second time next Saturday. Tipoff against the Grizzlies on Tuesday is scheduled for 7:00 PM.