[1] Golden State Warriors 120-111 [3] Oklahoma City Thunder [OKC leads series 3-2]
A tough challenge by the Oklahoma City Thunder but the Golden State Warriors eventually came through for the win. That’s how Game 5 turned out and it’s how many predicted the entire series to turn out. Nonetheless, this win means the Western Conference Finals shift back to Oklahoma City for Game 6 where for a second straight game the defending champions will face elimination.
Stephen Curry scored 31 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, dished out 6 dimes and had 5 steals as he led the Warriors’ spirited Game 5 performance at home. After being virtually non-existent, Draymond Green finally showed up putting up a double-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds to go along with 4 assists and 4 blocks. Klay Thompson with his 27 points made sure that Warriors offense never faded.
Despite all those contributions from the team’s All-Stars, which is frankly expected every game, the difference makers in Game 5 for the Warriors were a couple of big men in starting center Andrew Bogut and backup forward Marreese Speights. Bogut registered a double-double of 15 points, 14 rebounds while also recording 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Speights provided much needed instant offense off the bench for Golden State, scoring 14 points in just 9 minutes of action.
With Bogut playing like everybody expected him to, the Warriors activity in the paint changed. They went from being outrebounded by 15+ in Game 3 & 4 to keeping the number of rebounds even. The Warriors altered a lot more Thunder shots in the paint than they ever did all season. OKC averaged 55 points in the paint 3 & 4 but were held to just 30 in Game 5, largely due to Golden State’s 7 blocks.
Despite all the positives for the Warriors from Game 5, it was still a hard-fought win, the Thunder did not give up until the final minute when the lead was out of reach. Kevin Durant dropped 40 points becoming the only player with multiple 40 point games this post-season. Russell Westbrook contributed big as well with 31 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds but the duo combined for 10 turnovers, costly ones.
The Thunder had no other stand-out performers but played as a team, which allowed them to stay in the game throughout. With Game 6 set for Saturday, the Warriors must not lose the momentum they have gained with this Game 5 win while Thunder will look forward to rallying behind their loud and thunderous crowd.
Game 6 will be played at the Chesapeake Arena in Oklahoma City on Saturday.
Top Play of the Day:
Stephen Curry put an exclamation mark on Game 5 with the clutch steal on Durant and followed it up with a tough layup at the other end:
