Just drink in a milky stream of these full highlights—you won't be disappointed.There's no other explanation, really: the Warriors made a pact with the devil to pull this one off. Golden State went into last night's Game 6 against a ferocious, cool-headed, long-limbed Oklahoma City Thunder with a boatload of nay-sayers. Yes, just about every person that lauded the 73-9 regular-season team from Oakland suddenly flipped their betting odds, switched on their doubt, and stared down the very stark reality that the Chosen Team was slated to die.And why should they have believed any different?The Warriors were slumping in their Games 3 and 4 losses—and even their Game 5 win. Steph Curry looked like the walking dead for the past few games, going through routine shots because that's what his body—not his head or heart—were telling him to do. The typical collective consciousness of a deep Golden State bench failed to compensate for the MVP, and no other star emerged in the starting lineup. Draymond's flailing limbs were more a talking point than any one player's performance. Iguodala's efforts were athletic, but ultimately futile.The Thunder, on the other hand, tallied a shooting percentage from behind the arc—and in the paint—that made them seem like a mutant, tall version of your best imagination of the Warriors. Over the past four games, they earned every fruit that they knocked down, and flexed the kind of prowess that was etched into their franchise DNA as the deathly Durant-Westbrook duo. Add the buy-in from Steven Adams, who was every bit as effective attacking the rim (getting retribution for Draymond's wandering leg) as he was defending it—along with Roberson and Ibaka pulling weight—and the Thunder looked every bit the incumbent kings of the West.So what made last night any different? The only answer is that the Warriors lived and ultimately survived by the three.If you were to plan out this game with the cold calculations of a chess match, it wouldn't make sense for the Warriors to rest back on threes like they did. In the past few games, the Thunder's big man perimeter D—a series of switches that effectively replaced most other teams' attempt to double Curry—had effectively shut them down. It seemed like the Warriors' penetration was the only thing that yielded results—Bogut's big-man heroics in the paint drew more consistency than anything else. Even their attempts to feed a three-point shooter was muted—their wild skip passes to players behind the arc were knocked down time and again by one of the longest-armed teams in the league.But after being down for the majority of the game, the Warriors ultimately put faith back in their stroke—and not from the most expected place. Instead of the MVP, Klay Thompson stepped to the plate in his often-unconscious stream of fluid swishes, similar to his 37-point quarter against the Sacramento Kings. Unlike that insignificant mid-season matchup against a fairly weak team, though, Klay—who is known to disappear in the post-season—snapped into a different purpose last night, befitting of the stakes. Gone was the glassy-eyed knockdown of shot after shot, with a shrug to mark their inexplicability. Instead, Klay showed tenacity, promise, and a certain amount of desperation. And it worked.In fact, it worked so well, Klay hit 11 from behind the arc—a record for three pointers in a NBA playoff game:Yes, the Warriors were still throwing away passes—namely a hideous over-the-head scoop pass a driving Curry made to Klay on the perimeter, which Durant read like a road sign. But they built more of their three point shooting game off of screens, ultimately catching their streak as the Thunder slumped back into their typical fourth quarter blues, scoring only 18 points to the Warriors' 33 in the final 12 minutes. Not to mention that the MVP finally snapped the Voodoo curse that possessed him for the past five games——if only for the final few minutes of the game. Ultimately, Durant and Westbrook combined to go 1-13 from three on the night, whereas Klay and Curry hit a dazzling 17-31. That's a 48-point difference—and all the difference in the world.For Games 1-5, it felt like the curtain was pulled back—like the famous Golden State backcourt was exposed as a risk-all, fortunate team that couldn't sustain the heart-shattering pace they set forth. But in Game 6 they pressed that three-point "luck" yet again, recalibrating their shooting, and to spectacular effect.So, yes, the Warriors may have sold their soul to the Devil last night to win Game 6—but it was only to get something back that they already had.
Advertisement
Advertisement