OAKLAND, Calif. — Elimination stared them in the face. Speculation of ill health swirled around one star’s knee. And trepidation about another star’s emotional strength gnawed at his head.
But the Warriors spit in the face of all that and in the eye of the Thunder and sidestepped elimination, forcing a Game 6 with a 120-111 victory Thursday behind 31 points from Stephen Curry and an-everybody-chipped-in effort at Oracle Arena. Anything less meant elimination.
“We really relied on the entire team tonight, and that’s when we’re at our best,” Curry said. “The effort was good but we still can play better.”
Immediately after the game, Curry said the Warriors have to play “the game of their lives” in Game 6 on Saturday to bring the series back to Oakland for a decisive Game 7.
“It’ll take all of our IQ and all of our gamesmanship for 48 minutes to get a win,” Curry said. “We just did what we’re supposed to do, win at home.”
But to get to 6 they had to get through 5.
“We played with great energy and desperation,” said coach Steve Kerr, who deadpanned that Curry, reportedly at 70 percent on an aching knee that was injured in the first playoff series, “probably looked like 91 percent” in the game that saved the Warriors’ season. “That’s how you have to play in the playoffs.”
And it helps when you get a game like Curry produced. In addition to his scoring, which included 12 points in the fourth quarter, Curry brought seven rebounds and six assists to the party.
“He didn’t do anything different. He made tough shots and got to the line,” said OKC point guard Russell Westbrook.
But Curry had help — lots of help — and it was needed to overcome the scoring of Kevin Durant (40 points) and Westbrook (31 points), who both started the night in frigid shooting fashion.
“We struggled in the first half offensively,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said in near-classic understatement.
The Thunder got their act together and made repeated runs, but always the Warriors had an answer. Sometimes, it was center Andrew Bogut — whom Kerr called out Wednesday for his foul-prone, nearly invisible play— posting a 15-point, 14-rebound double-double. There was Klay Thompson scoring 27 points. There was Draymond Green, pitifully awful for two games after his flagrant foul escapade, playing with fervor again — along with 11 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Plus, the Warrior bench stepped up big, especially with an 8-0 run (one starter, Harrison Barnes on the floor) that raised the lead to 12 and made the Thunder scramble all the way down to the end, not getting closer than five.
“That was [decisive]. They made shots. That kind of stretched the lead. Their bench came in and made shots,” said Durant, who praised Curry’s offense but noted he doesn’t defend the top offensive points, Thompson usually does.
“I don’t get caught up in individual matchups,” Curry said.
And the Warriors were far more aggressive. After being outshot 77-54 in free-throw attempts in Games 3 and 4, the Warriors went to the line 34 times Thursday.
“That to me was the difference in the game,” said Donovan, who praised his team’s never-say-quit play.
The Thunder, almost surprisingly, were within four points after a dreadful first quarter that contained a 1-of-7 shooting start by Durant and a 1-of-9 start by Westbrook. OKC received a jolt when center Steven Adams picked up his second foul at 9:34 and went to the bench, but they stayed in striking distance and still were within eight at halftime, even after Curry scored seven points in a 58-second stretch.
OKC finally claimed a lead, 68-67, on a Westbrook 3-pointer at 6:06 of the third, but the Warriors grabbed it right back and the Thunder never saw the lead again. They trailed by 13 several times in the fourth quarter, including 103-90 with under 6:00 to play. So Durant put OKC on his shoulders, scoring 14 of his points in the fourth. He got them within five on a 3-pointer at 4:34.
Curry, though, led the Warriors back to a double-digit lead, which stood at 11 with 55.7 seconds left after two Thompson free throws. Naturally, the Thunder rallied, closing to within six. But Westbrook missed the free throw on a possible three-point play. He scrambled to get the rebound, and the crowd let out an audible sigh when Durant bricked a 3-point try.
“[Bleep] yeah, I wished I had that one back,” Durant said. “Would have made it a three-point game with 30 seconds to go.
“Yeah, I wish I had it back.”
But OKC still has two shots to make up for Game 5.