Thunder overwhelm Warriors again, move within a win of NBA Finals
It took 96 games for the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors to lose two games in a row. As impressive as that accomplishment is, the team with the most wins in regular-season history now has to take three in a row to avoid elimination from the postseason.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder followed up an overwhelming blowout of the Warriors in Sunday’s Western Conference Finals Game 3 with another dominant showing in Game 4, beating the 73-win defending champions 118-94. The contest proved more competitive than the previous game but no less a statement of OKC’s apparent superiority in this matchup. Much as in the conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs, the Thunder have made a historically great squad look slow and overmatched the most devastating mix of length and athleticism in the NBA. The Warriors’ much-feted and transformative offense has struggled to create decent looks with any ease or regularity, and the Thunder have succeeded in upending apparent tactical advantages thanks to lineups that are able to play with the strengths of small and big players all at the same time.
It is difficult to exaggerate how good the OKC defense has been over the last two games of this series. The Thunder’s evisceration of the Spurs was somewhat logical given their advanced age and relatively thin backcourt depth, but the Warriors have inspired rapturous praise throughout the last two seasons with an offensive attack that no team has been able to solve. With Kevin Durant serving as their elite defensive tone-setter, the Thunder have managed to pressure the Warriors’ elite guards on the perimeter and adjust to virtually every pass and shot to allow very few easy buckets and open looks.
The results have been shocking not just in terms of shooting percentages and the struggles of All-Star Draymond Green (six points on 1-of-7 FG) and Stephen Curry (19 points on 6-of-20 FG), but very high numbers of steals and blocks. Those stats often depend more on risk-taking than sound defense, but the Thunder have forced bad passes and fumbles often when single long-armed defenders like Durant and Serge Ibaka move quickly to cut off driving and passing lanes. The Warriors committed 21 turnovers in Game 4 (six each for Green and Curry), 16 of which were live-ball steals. Durant (four steals and three blocks), Ibaka (two blocks), Andre Roberson (five steals and two blocks), and Russell Westbrook (four steals) have rendered the Warriors’ small-ball “Death Lineup” stunningly ineffective, effectively erasing the quickness advantages that have defined its success throughout the season.
Those same athletic advantages played out in other facets of the game. The Thunder were able to get to the foul line seemingly whenever they wanted in Game 4, shooting 31-of-40 from the stripe and going to the line 28 times in a particularly impressive first half (some of those were intentional fouls to Roberson). Golden State fans will likely explain away that high number via poor officiating, but a measured take on the action must admit that the Thunder kept going to the line because they have players capable of exploiting athleticism and strength advantages to dislodge defenders and call attention to contact. The more aggressive team tends to get the benefit of the doubt in these cases, and OKC has been quicker to loose balls and long rebounds throughout the series. They’re getting calls because they’re earning them.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
