Thunder Goes Missing After Halftime, Falls to the Warriors in Oakland

The Oklahoma City Thunder showed up in Oakland on Saturday night and played extremely well….for a bit. OKC shot 21 percent in the first quarter but trailed by just five to end the frame. The Thunder then responded with a 50 percent shooting quarter in second, briefly holding a five-point lead before falling behind by seven at the halftime break.

Things got interesting in the third quarter, as the Thunder ran out to an 11-2 start and held a 56-54 lead at the 9:20 mark. The Warriors then caught fire, blitzing the OKC defense and finishing the third on a 30-10 run and blowing the game wide open.

All told, Golden State outscored the Thunder 58-24 from the 9:20 mark of the third quarter on, coasting through the fourth and wrapping up a 112-80 victory in front of a raucous crowd at Oracle Arena. Kevin Durant was the high-scorer for the Dubs, dropping 28 points on 10/20 shooting.

Russell Westbrook led the way for the Thunder with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists — but shot just 4/15 from the field. Steven Adams and Carmelo Anthony pitched-in 14 points apiece. The biggest story of the night for OKC was Paul George, who scored just five points on a 1/14 clip from the field.

Full Highlights:

The loss drops the Thunder to 34-27 ahead of Monday’s game at home against the Orlando Magic. Now for some notes on the game.

Numbers

33 & 47: The Thunder shot just 33 percent from the field, with the Warriors hitting on 47 percent. That’s the ball game.

26 & 45: OKC went 9/34 from downtown, good for 26.5 percent. On the other side, Golden State hit 17/38, a 44.7 percent clip.

61.9: The Thunder shot 13/21 from the free throw line — that’s 61.9 percent.

-11: The Warriors outrebounded OKC 54-43, with the Thunder winning 14-12 on the offensive glass.

19 & 36: OKC had 19 assists on the evening, with the Dubs handing out 36 helpers.

35 & 5: The Warriors’ biggest lead of the night was 35, with OKC’s largest advantage being five.

-8: The Dubs outscored OKC 36-28 in the paint.

17 & 10: If perhaps for nothing more than proof that this game was good at times, there were 17 ties and 10 lead changes.

-25: The Warriors outscored OKC 60-35 in the second half. It was as ugly as it sounded.

Shooting Percentage by Quarter:

Clips

Melo and KD exchanged some words:

Melo also had a run-in with Draymond Green:

Zaza Pachulia doing dirty things again. After the game Westbrook said “That sh*t is ridiculous.”

Notes

PG13: Paul George went 0/9 in the first half and looked as frustrated as he’s appeared all season. He got his first bucket at the 7:45 mark of the third quarter — a three-pointer that put the Thunder up three. While that would have been a perfect time to get going, things never materialized for OKC’s second All-Star. He wrapped up his night shooting just 1/14, contributing just 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. He was a -12 on the evening and although the loss wasn’t entirely his fault, his inability to do much of anything was absolutely crippling.

Russ: Russell Westbrook finished his night with 15 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. However, he went 4/15 from the field (1/5 from downtown) and couldn’t be the catalyst the Thunder needed on offense. For the first time this season against Golden State, he was outplayed by Steph Curry — who finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists on 5/12 shooting from downtown.

Carmelo & Steve. Carmelo Anthony wrapped up with 14 points on 6/17 shooting. He was the Thunder’s emotional leader for the night, and appeared to be the last to totally give up on the effort. Steven Adams was solid, contributing 14 points and 7 rebounds on 6/9 shooting. His biggest problem is that he can’t physically play all 48 minutes.

Waking Up Kevin. Kevin Durant started slowly from the field, then got into the scuffle with Carmelo Anthony and rose from the dead. He finished 7/12 from the field in the first half, good for 19 points. His resurgence seemed to be sparked by that run-in with Melo. He led the Warriors in scoring with 28 points on 4/6 shooting from downtown.

All-in-All. While the final score is ugly and the Thunder’s overall performance was certainly the same, it’s difficult to take too terribly much from this one. Despite shooting like dog malarkey in the first quarter, OKC was able to hang around and even have a lead in the third quarter — there was just no way to stop the rising tide of Golden State’s offense down the stretch. Even still, it was fascinating in stretches to see the team hang tight when Westbrook and George were so ineffective on offense. It’s no moral victory and was every bit as unpleasant as the final score indicates, but hey — this was going to happen at some point against Golden State. That night was tonight.

Stay Calm?