The Thunder didn’t steal homecourt advantage, they earned it with a 108-102 victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Every team on the road to begin a series is looking for a split, just trying to get that elusive one. The Thunder have that. And now they can go for more.
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LOOK AHEAD
The Warriors bested Portland in five games in the second round of these playoffs but looked mortal doing it. They trailed at halftime in each of the last four games, losing one, going to overtime in another, and taking the series-clincher at home by four points. The Blazers were a tough out, made the Warriors work and exposed some deficiencies. Still, in that series, the Warriors were the better team and used their superior depth and talent to overcome those deficits to advance.
Not so against the Thunder, who are coming off an upset of the No. 2 seed Spurs by winning two games in San Antonio against a team that lost just one home game during the regular season. Now, OKC is at it again. Doing to the Warriors what the champs had done regularly to their victims. The Warriors led for much of Game 1, including by as many as 14 points, but the Thunder stayed in it just enough to merit a belief that Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook could win it for them.
INJURIES
Westbrook took a hard hit to the face from Andrew Bogut for a foul ruled a Flagrant 1 after a review midway through the first quarter. Trainers checked Westbrook’s mouth and he didn’t miss any action. “Time of the year you’re going to get hit but you’ve got to find a way to get back up,” Westbrook said.
Stephen Curry made his second straight start since coming off the bench in Game 4 against Portland following a right knee sprain that still isn’t 100 percent. He said he can manage just fine, it’s just about “pain tolerance” going forward.
KEY MATCHUP
Durant and Westbrook are the backbone of the Thunder, with everything riding or dying on how they perform. But again, as has been the case for much of this postseason, Steven Adams was large – literally and metaphorically – with 16 points and 12 rebounds in 37 minutes. His interior defense and physicality has taken the Thunder to another level, but on Monday, he canned six straight free throws, including two clutch ones with a minute left to put OKC up three.
When the Warriors go to a small lineup with Draymond Green at center, many teams try to match up. OKC’s advantage is that Adams and Enes Kanter can play that game. Both big men are athletic enough to counter the smaller players, can clean up on the glass and use their height advantage on the offensive ends for easy looks down low.
QUICK PICK
What’s stunning about the way the Thunder took Game 1 is that it feels like they didn’t even play that well. They missed 10 free throws. Durant and Westbrook shot a combined 17 of 51. But riding a suddenly ferocious defense, they took away the Warriors’ half court offense and baited them into hurried, contested three-pointers. When those shots are dropping, the Warriors are relentless and unbeatable. When they’re not, Golden State is vulnerable.
The thing about the Warriors is that they’ve responded all season. They haven’t lost consecutive games all season and, while the Thunder looked good on Monday, the Warriors will counter just like they have all year to even this NBA series.
NBA Odds: Golden State 109, Oklahoma City 104
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