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Oklahoma City Thunder v Denver Nuggets

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In an epic matchup marked by incomprehensible offensive firepower, MVPs on both sides and the defending champs in a desperate spot, the Golden State Warriors did the unthinkable Wednesday in a 118-91 Game 2 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

They made it feel customary. Predictable. Mundane.

This was a Warriors effort we watched dozens of times during the most dominant regular season in NBA history. Objectively, there was nothing ho-hum about the stifling defense, quick-trigger shooting and breathless scoring binges. That stuff, as usual, was incredible to behold.

It’s just that Golden State wasn’t supposed to be able to do those things at this stage of the postseason or against this scorching Thunder team.

The Warriors cooked up their regular-season recipe perfectly—pushing past early turnovers, gradually clamping down on defense and then smirking as Stephen Curry‘s game-breaking surge broke the Thunder’s spirit and ignited a previously anxious crowd.

The rediscovery came at a necessary time. An 0-2 hole would have almost certainly been fatal, even for the Warriors. And for most of the first half, it wasn’t clear Golden State would ever find what it was looking for.

Oklahoma City Thunder v Golden State Warriors

Source: Ezra Shaw / Getty

But then a lightning-quick spurt in the final minute and 10 seconds of the first half turned a one-point deficit into an eight-point advantage at the break.

Then, Curry’s eruption, in which he scored 15 points in just under two minutes of the third quarter, effectively ended the contest.

Upset by a handful of calls he wanted but didn’t get, Curry started gunning. And the Thunder picked a bad time to spring leaks in what had been, yet again, a sturdy defensive dam. OKC’s defense crushed the San Antonio Spurs, and it compressed the Warriors into an uncomfortable 14-point fourth quarter in Game 1.

Curry, miffed by the off-ball holds and one specific un-whistled trip at the top of circle, took it out on the Thunder, per Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group:And a mad Curry does incredible, unfair things.

Draymond Green also spent the evening staring down the Thunder, locking eyes and barking at Steven Adams and Enes Kanter after hitting first-half threes over both of them.

In keeping with the theme of terrifying familiarity, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had little new to say about his best player’s explosion, per Royce Young of ESPN.com and Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated:

Kerr’s seen all this before.

Curry finished with 28 points on 15 shots in 30 minutes. And that was the other recognizable element of the contest: With the lead creeping into the 20s in the fourth quarter, Curry and the other key starters took extended rests. No Warrior played more than Green’s 32 minutes.

The MVP needed the break, if only to nurse a nasty knot on his shooting elbow—sustained in a first-half dive into the crowd.

BASKET-TPE-US-NBA

Source: SAM YEH / Getty

Obviously, there were no ill effects.

Oklahoma City got what it wanted out of its Oakland visit, though.

The Thunder will board a plane with a 1-1 split knowing they can take the series if they win their three remaining games at home—where they went 39-2 in the regular season. Golden State was the NBA’s best road team at 34-7, so the task ahead won’t be anywhere in the vicinity of easy. But OKC’s recent play and second-half dominance in Game 1 give it more earned confidence than any Warriors opponent has had in a long time.

 The Warriors maintained their streak of not losing two straight all season. They’re now 12-0 this year following a loss. And this one came in a way that should concern the Thunder.

Because although the overall narrative of the game was one the Warriors have authored plenty of times, the specifics belied key adjustments. Golden State shook its shooters loose off the ball, limited Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to three combined shots in the third quarter and, remarkably, smoked Oklahoma City on the glass by a margin of 45-36. On the offensive boards, where the Thunder were thought to have a major advantage, the Dubs more than doubled them up, 15-7.

The Warriors responded to that Game 1 loss emotionally, but they also bounced back tactically. And when Golden State makes its in-series tweaks (see decisive adjustments that swung the balance against Memphis and Cleveland last postseason), opponents don’t generally have a counter.

If that’s the way things play out in this matchup, we could be in for another familiar outcome: Golden State walking away victorious.

source:  CNN.com