The Oklahoma City Thunder completely annihilated the Warriors on Sunday night to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors still have an opportunity to win back home court if they can sneak out a win in Game 4, but for the time being, the defending champs have their backs up against the wall.
Golden State ran through everyone during the regular season setting the all-time wins record with 73 victories, but now they are no longer even the favorites to win the championship, according to analysts at FiveThirtyEight. As of Monday morning, the stats indicate that the Thunder, the three seed in the West, have now surpassed the field and have a 40 percent chance of taking home the franchise’s first title since they moved to Oklahoma City.
Meanwhile, the Warriors have had their percentage of a repeat title dropped to just 28 percent, which is even with the Cleveland Cavaliers who hold a 2-1 edge in the Eastern Conference Finals. The poor Toronto Raptors have only a 4 percent chance of winning it all despite their impressive Game 3 win.
While they have a solid 40 percent chance of a championship, FiveThirtyEight also gives the Thunder a 61 percent chance at this point of advancing to the NBA Finals, with the Warriors now having a less than 40 percent chance of winning the West for the second year in a row.
This can all change, of course, if Golden State comes back with a vengeance in Game 4, but as of today, the best regular season team of all-time has now found themselves as the underdogs for the first time all season.
(Via FiveThirtyEight)
