For the second game in a row, the Oklahoma City Thunder came out guns blazing against the defending champs in the first half of Game 3. But unlike the previous game, there would be no third-quarter histrionics from the reigning MVP to save the day.
What transpired instead on Sunday was a wire-to-wire beat down for a team that’s usually the one dishing it out to hapless opponents and a stunning 2-1 series lead for a squad that was given no chance against the 73-win Warriors juggernaut going in.
Golden State simply had no answer for the two-headed hydra of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Durant finished with 33 points and eight rebounds on 10-15 from the floor, while Westbrook flirted with a triple-double as he put up 30 points, 12 assists, and eight rebounds on similarly-efficient 10-of-19 shooting.
But it wasn’t just a two-man show for OKC. They got plenty of meaningful contributions from their supporting cast. Serge Ibaka started the game red-hot and had arguably the highlight of the night when he posterized Festus Ezeli in the first quarter, while Golden State’s usual tactic of completely ignoring Andre Roberson on the perimeter backfired a little as he added 13 points on 5-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-5 from downtown. Dion Waiters chipped in 13 points on 6-of-11 from the field, while Enes Kanter posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.
The Thunder held the defending champs to 34 percent shooting through the first two quarters and went on a blistering 32-7 run to end the half and hand the Warriors their largest deficit of the season, 72-47. OKC got to the free-throw line 25 times through the opening quarters while the Warriors took just four total foul shots and got out-rebounded 33-19.
Curry would come back to life a little bit in the third quarter, scoring 13 points, but he was mostly out of sorts for the entire contest. He finished with 24 points, but shot just 3-of-11 from long-range and 7-of-17 overall. Klay Thompson was equally as frigid as he converted just two of his eight three-point attempts en route to 18 relatively-inconsequential points. Draymond Green was positively-atrocious as he was held to just six points on 1-of-9 shooting, missing both of his shots from behind the arc, and was a game-worst minus-43 for the night. He also got hit with a Flagrant 1 for a kick to Steven Adams’ groin in the first half.
It was by far the Warriors’ worst performance of the season, but they can take solace in the fact that they still haven’t lost back-to-back games since the 2014-2015 season. Game 4 tips off in Oklahoma City Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.
