Can The Oklahoma City Thunder Beat The Warriors?
The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently in eighth place in the Western Conference standings. The Golden State Warriors lead the conference. If the playoffs started today, the Thunder would start the postseason by playing at Oracle Arena in the Bay Area.
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Oklahoma City is 2½ games behind the San Antonio Spurs for seventh place, and the Thunder are missing their best player and reigning MVP, Kevin Durant. The Spurs have won four in a row and look to be getting their groove back.
There seems to be little chance that the Thunder can overtake the current NBA champions, so it might be time to take a look at the future playoff matchup and ask the burning question; can this year’s Oklahoma City squad beat the Warriors?
In four games this year, the Thunder have gone 1-3 against the Warriors, including a 117-91 shellacking in Oakland on Jan. 3. That was one of two games when you could argue that Oklahoma City was at full strength.
The first meeting between these two teams featured both of the Thunder’s superstar players in street clothes, while a third contest had both stars on the court, Durant only played 18 minutes.
In first of the two games that had both Durant and Russell Westbrook involved, it was all Warriors, all game. Five different Warriors had at least 10 points, and the team shot 15-for-28 (54 percent) from the three-point line. Harrison Barnes went 5-for-5 from deep by himself, and the game was never in question as Golden State took a 22-point lead into halftime.
However, on Jan. 16, the Thunder got revenge, winning 127-115 behind 36 points from Durant and a triple-double from Westbrook, with an amazing statline fo 17 points, 16 assists, 15 rebounds, and four steals. Oklahoma City shot 53 percent from the field and out-rebounded Golden State 54-43.
Two games between these two teams, with two dramatically different results. Right now, Durant is telling everyone that he will be ready to play before the playoffs start and Westbrook is tearing up the league and putting abject terror into the hearts of opposing coaches, players, and fans.
Still, that earlier demolition in Oakland cannot be forgotten the Warriors are a good team, and trying to predict a winner between these two is basically a coin flip. You would give the slightest edge to the home team, just because of the amazing crowd in Oakland, but the Thunder are a playoff tested team, and they will not shrink from the moment.
As long as Durant is healthy and playing, then it is anybody’s series. Recently, Durant talked about his injury with NewsOK.com:
"Was there any relief that the pain you were feeling, there was a reason for it?Yeah, now I know what happened in that Memphis game, in that Dallas game. I know why I was having so much pain and to have that corrected feels so much better. It’s just a matter of when somebody digs in your foot, you’re going to have some pain. That’s what happened when they reinserted a different screw. The pain that I had before is gone, but there’s still some pain there obviously from them going in there and stitching me up. But I should be fine soon.You feel very confident you will return this season?No doubt. No doubt. I’m looking forward to returning this season. No doubt. I’m not packing it in at all."
That is good news for Thunder fans, and bad news for the Bay Area. While on paper the matchup looks very even, there are intangibles at play here. That Warriors team has a first-year head coach and is full of players who have never come through in big playoff contests. Westbrook and Durant have both been to the NBA Finals.
Both of those guys can be counted on to not get rattled by a frenzied crowd during a run by the home team. Westbrook does not seem like a guy who is rattled by anything, and Durant has proven his worth in those situations his whole career.
No, this will be the best first-round playoff series in NBA history, and while the Thunder may not be the favorites, they will certainly be putting a scare into Warrior fans everywhere.
Next: A Cynic's Take On Russell Westbrook's Peformance
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