The Oklahoma City Thunder can taste the NBA Finals in the air. They had every opportunity to put away the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 at home but could not capitalize.
In the last 5:48 of the game, the defending champs outscored the Thunder 21-7 to turn a seven-point deficit to a 108-101 win. Here are the 3 things we learned from the Warriors’ thrilling comeback win over Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals Game 6.
1. Hero ball won’t cut it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHxs_-UVsUU
Team play is what got the Thunder here but in case they would go on to lose the series, team play has got nothing to do with it.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook should, by any means, get the bigger piece of the pie but THIS big? That won’t cut it.
In Game 6, the duo conspired to take 64% of the team’s field goal attempts and almost exclusively chucked at will at crucial times in the fourth. Of the 19 shots the Thunder took, 15 of them came from KD and Russ, while just making three. KD/Westbrook also accounted for all SIX of OKC’s turnovers.
Yep, it’s that bad.
On the other hand, 6 of 11 Warrior baskets came from beautiful passes and 5 different players scored in the last 12 minutes. The message is pretty clear: You want to get out of here, do it as a team.
2. Warriors can win in different ways.
They are not the defending champions for no reason at all. And champions, get things done in whichever way possible.
In Game 5, Warriors needed their big guys to deliver and they did to the tune of 48 points in the paint, compared to Thunder’s 30. In Game 6, they had the outside shot going and rode Klay Thompson’s playoff record 11 treys to hold a whopping 63-9 advantage from deep.
Make no mistake about it, the Warriors know how to win and they did just that with their season on the line.
And speaking of that Klay guy…
3. Thompson is THE NBA’s best shooter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxrzNbMq5gk
Maybe not off-the-dribble, off a pull-up but when it comes to straight-up shooting ability, he could be better than his Splash Brother Curry. Not that he needed more than the 3-point shootout crown to prove it.
Bottom line: If you have two of the best shooters alive on the same team, said team always have a chance.
Photo via: 510teams.com
