Warriors at Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder accomplished one goal by taking Game 1 at Golden State to begin the Western Conference finals but saw a different Warriors team in a Game 2 loss. The Thunder will try to protect home court when the series shifts to Oklahoma City for Game 3 on Sunday.
The Thunder dominated on the glass and at the free-throw line in Game 1, effectively keeping Golden State out of its offense in the second half as they surged to a 108-102 victory. The Warriors were the more aggressive group in Game 2 and made the necessary adjustments on the glass and on the offensive end to free up Stephen Curry for a third-quarter barrage that stunned Oklahoma City and propelled Golden State to a 118-91 triumph. "We've got to deal in the reality and the truth," Thunder coach Billy Donovan told reporters. "The reality and the truth is, OK, here are the things that went wrong (in Game 2). Here are the corrections we need to make. Here are the adjustments we need to make. Here's what we need to do and the series right now is 1-1. That's the truth right now coming out of it.” Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant bounced back from a tough shooting performance in Game 1 by going 11-of-18 from the field on Wednesday but watched most of the fourth quarter from the bench with the game already decided.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE WARRIORS: Curry dove into the stands trying to save a loose ball in the first quarter of Game 2 and landed hard on his right elbow, leaving a giant knot that swelled out during the game. The knot didn’t seem to bother him much as he was scoring 15 points in under two minutes in the third quarter to finish with 28 points in 30 minutes for the game, and Curry doesn’t believe the injury will hamper his shooting moving forward. "It's sore, just because of the impact, but the spot it's at doesn't affect the range of motion, so I can shoot and dribble and do all I need to do," Curry told reporters after practice on Friday. "It's uncomfortable, but it's not necessarily painful."
ABOUT THE THUNDER: Oklahoma City was demolished 124-92 at San Antonio in Game 1 of its second-round series before bouncing back to win the series in six games, and the team fully believes it will recover against the Warriors. “It helps with our confidence knowing that we’ve been in this position before,” Durant told reporters. “It’s not foreign land to us. But the last series, we can’t really worry about that too much, we’ve got to focus on who we’ve got in front of us right now. We know it’s easier said than done. Just because we did it last time doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to happen again. We’ve got to make it happen.” Durant will try to “make it happen” by cutting down on the turnovers after committed eight of the team’s 16 in the Game 2 setback.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors SG Klay Thompson is 5-of-16 from 3-point range in the series after connecting on at least five from beyond the arc in each of the previous seven postseason games.
2. Oklahoma City PG Russell Westbrook is 12-of-35 from the floor in the series.
3. Golden State received 50 points from its reserves in Game 2 after getting 16 points from the bench in Game 1.