Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Game 7 vs. Thunder
1. …But Three-Point Shooting Trumps Everything
Aside from the obvious asset of Curry, who proved to be the ultimate one-man trump card in Game 7, the Golden State Warriors’ three-point shooting gives them an ever-present advantage that could kick in at any moment.
Durant: "They beat us from the 3-point line the last two games. We beat them from everywhere else ... that was the series."
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) May 31, 2016
In Game 6, Thompson proved as much when he nailed 11 three-pointers and carried the Warriors to victory despite OKC being the better team for 80 percent of the game. Their 21-3 advantage in made three-pointers represented the largest discrepancy between two opponents in NBA playoff history.
The gap wasn’t as wide in Game 7, but with the Warriors knocking down 17 threes and the Thunder only going 7-for-27 from deep, the other areas where the Thunder were superior didn’t wind up mattering.
In the series, Curry (32) and Thompson (30) BOTH broke the previous NBA record for made three-pointers in a single playoff series (28). Curry knocked down seven of his 12 long range attempts in Game 7, while Thompson was just as deadly at 6-for-11.
Their Game 7 shot chart would’ve made former NBA-players-turned-talking-heads cringe, but for a team whose greatest strength is its long range attack, it was more than enough to close the series out.
Yes, it was all about the three for Golden State. Their Game 7 shot chart. pic.twitter.com/4LnbkFJyqC
— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) May 31, 2016
Over the last two games of the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors’ kerosene characteristics allowed them to catch fire at any instant and outweighed everything else that the Thunder were doing right.
The Splash Brothers outshot the Thunder from three-point range by themselves in that two-game span, tripling their made three-pointers in the process.
Last 2 games from 3-point range:
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) May 31, 2016
Steph/Klay 30-of-55 (55 percent)
Thunder 10-of-50 (20 percent)#goink
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a better three-point shooting team than the Thunder, and they’ll present a whole new set of problem areas the Warriors will need to address.
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But with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson at their best, not to mention capable long range shooters like Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and even Marreese Speights, the Dubs are NEVER out of a game, no matter what the scoreboard says.