Kevin Durant And Russell Westbrook Lead Thunder Past Warriors 108-102 In Game 1

First-year Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan was greeted by a series of hugs and handshakes on Monday night after the Thunder did something no other NBA team has this postseason: they defeated the Golden State Warriors, the defending champions, at their own Oracle Arena.

Kevin Durant And Russell Westbrook Lead Thunder Past Warriors 108-102 In Game 1

After trailing 60-47 at the half and by as many as 14 points early in the third quarter, the Thunder stormed back and, led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, raced to a 108-102 victory over the Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

”You have to have a mindset coming into these kinds of venues. Our guys, I think they understand what they’re walking into,” Donovan said. ”You don’t just walk in here say, `Oh, everything’s going to be OK.’ You have to have a mindset to understand. The first thing is to embrace the fact it’s going to be hard.”

Durant scored 26 points and made a key 17-foot jumper over Andre Iguodala with 30.7 seconds left to put the Thunder up 105-100, while Westbrook finished with a game-high 27 points,– 24 of which came in the second half– 12 assists, seven steals and six rebounds. The opener marked the Thunder’s fourth West finals in six years. Thanks to Westbrook’s star turn, the Thunder has now beaten both the Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs three times on their home courts in the past two weeks– as many home losses as those two teams combined for the entire regular season.

”We just stayed with it on the defensive end and when we got the shots late in the game we were able to focus in and knock them down,” Durant said. ”We’re just a resilient group and keep fighting `til the end.”

After putting up just 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting in the first half, Durant went just 5-of-19 in the second, including an 0-of-8 streak in the fourth quarter. He also had five turnovers.

Steven Adams, who finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots, scored a pair of free throws for Oklahoma City with 1:01 remaining.

Stephen Curry had 26 points and a playoff career-high 10 rebounds, as well as seven turnovers and seven assists. The Warriors scored 42 points in the second half and 14 in the fourth quarter, both lows for this postseason. He hit a 3-pointer in his 45th straight playoff game, breaking Reggie Miller’s record set from 1995-2000.

”We got rushed and tried to go for the home-run plays. Sometimes it works,” Curry said. ”Defensively we were getting enough stops and rebounds. We got out of character a little bit. It’s something we’ll learn from going forward.”

The Warriors, who had an NBA record-setting 73 wins in the regular season, did not look like that same team on Monday night. They did not play like the team that made fourth-quarter comebacks.

With Golden State down 105-102, head coach Steve Kerr, who was named NBA Coach of the Year, begged for a traveling call on Westbrook at mid-court with 17.2 seconds left, signaling with his arms before going into a squat. The Thunder received a timeout instead, and then Westbrook made a free throw with 14.5 seconds left.

”I do think we lost our poise a little bit,” Kerr said. ”And that had a lot to do with the quick shots.”

The Warriors’ Klay Thompson scored 19 of his 25 points in the first half, but shot 3 for 10 over the last two quarters. Curry’s 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer gave Golden State a 60-47 lead at the half.

Westbrook missed nine of his first 10 shots before finding a groove and scoring 19 points in Oklahoma City’s 38-point third quarter. His jumper with 5:03 left pulled the Thunder to 73-68 before Thompson answered two possessions later. Westbrook stole the ball from Draymond Green and ran the length of the court for a dunk at 3:07 of the third.

Westbrook also took a hard hit to the face from Andrew Bogut for a foul ruled a Flagrant 1 after a review at the 5:37 mark of the first quarter. Trainers checked Westbrook’s mouth.

”Time of the year you’re going to get hit but you’ve got to find a way to get back up,” Westbrook said.

The game marked MVP Curry’s second straight start since coming off the bench in Game 4 against the Portland Trail Blazers, after nursing a right knee sprain that still hasn’t fully healed yet. He said he can manage just fine, it’s just about ”pain tolerance” going forward.

PHOTO: OAKLAND, CA – MAY 16: Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City Thunder takes a shot over Andrew Bogut #12 of the Golden State Warriors during game one of the NBA Western Conference Final at ORACLE Arena on May 16, 2016 in Oakland, California.

Article by Pablo Mena