Destiny be damned, the Oklahoma City Thunder once again absolutely dominated the Warriors in Game 4 on Tuesday with a 118-94 win to take a stunning and nearly-insurmountable 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference Finals. It marked the first time all season Golden State has lost back-to-back games, a shocking development that has pushed the 73-win team to the brink of elimination.
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant continued to emphatically remind the world that they are perhaps two of the top four players on the planet. Westbrook was an absolute force of nature all night long as he posted a monster triple-double of 36 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds, while Durant added 26 points of his own. They were among six Thunder players in double-figures for the night. Serge Ibaka and Andre Roberson added 17 points apiece, while Steven Adams and Dion Waiters chipped in 11 and 10 points each.
In the biggest and most important game of the season, two-time MVP Steph Curry was a shrinking violet. He managed 19 points, but was just 6-of-20 overall and a miserable 2-of-10 from behind the arc. Naturally, that sparked a lot of speculation about his health, but injury or no, the Thunder have comprehensively outplayed and out-hustled the defending champs wire-to-wire in consecutive games. OKC now heads to Oakland for Game 5 on Thursday night with a chance to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals.
The Warriors once again looked flat early in Game 4 as they committed seven total turnovers in the first quarter, two by Curry and three by Green, who was personally responsible for several errant passes to start the game. Golden State showed little-to-no urgency from the opening tip as the Thunder used a 9-0 run midway through the first quarter to sprint out to a 15-8 lead and force an early timeout from Steve Kerr.
The Warriors just kept collectively missing shots and compounding that with other mistakes, especially Curry, who started the game 1-of-10 from the field. At various points this series, Curry hasn’t looked like he’s fully recovered from that knee injury, the most telling examples being his growing inability to take Thunder bigs like Steven Adams off the dribble out on the perimeter like he’s done countless times this season.
His team, however, would go on an 11-2 run in the last three-plus minutes of the first to cut the lead to 30-26. But the Thunder would use a 10-1 run of their own toward the end of the half, along with a little Hack-A-Ezeli, to halt Golden State’s momentum and take a commanding 72-53 lead into the break, making it the second consecutive 70-point half for OKC. The last time a Warriors team allowed two straight 70-point halves was in 1993.
Turnovers and free throws were both a big part of the narrative for Golden State in the first half as OKC got to the line 28 times, goading several Warriors players into early foul trouble. Klay Thompson picked up three quick fouls and had to sit out most of the second quarter, while Andrew Bogut and Maurrese Speights also had three fouls apiece.
Meanwhile, the Thunder’s three-headed monster of Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka rained down hell-fire from the very beginning. Westbrook had 21 points and nine assists by halftime and shot 3-of-5 from downtown, while Durant and Ibaka added 18 and 15 points, respectively. OKC’s big lineup dominated the boards all night, out-rebounding Golden State 56-40 overall and grabbed eight more offensive boards.
Midway through the third quarter, the Warriors would make their inevitable run behind the sheer force of will from Thompson, who scored 19 straight points during one stretch to cut the lead to single digits. Golden State, however, was never really able to find a rhythm or sustain any momentum. They continued to miss the types of shots they’ve been making all year long and were mired in apathy and carelessness from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
They now face the once-unthinkable prospect of seeing their historic season go down in flames. Only eight teams in NBA history have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series. They’ll try to do just that, starting with Game 5 on Thursday, which tips off at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.
