OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oklahoma City Thunder went into the ORACLE Arena and stunned the Golden State Warriors 108-102 in Game 1 of the Western Conference series, but star forward Kevin Durant says there won’t be any celebrations. Complete Box Scores
Besides the quick turnaround for Game 2 on Wednesday night at the same venue, Durant and company are very familiar with the Warriors’ firepower, which can strike at any time.
The former MVP is delighted about taking the early advantage in the series, but insists that there will be no “chest-bumping on the court” because there is still a lot of basketball left to be played in the series.
“What’s to celebrate?” remarked Durant. “We didn’t win anything. We didn’t win a championship.
“We’re playing in the Western Conference finals against a great team. We got a ‘W’ the first game, but there is a lot of basketball to be played, so we can’t be too excited.
“It was a good win for us, but we’re not going to be jumping up and down, chest-bumping on the court. We’ve got a lot more basketball to play.”
Durant, although struggling in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter again and turned the ball over five times in the contest, finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
All-Star guard Russell Westbrook had 27 points, 12 assists, seven steals and six rebounds.
In fact, after a slow start, Westbrook erupted to score 19 Pts in the 3rd quarter, the most by him in any quarter of his postseason career.
The Thunder shot 47 percent from 3-point range and held the Warriors to just 37 percent from the same range as a team on a night when reigning two-time MVP Stephen Curry shot 9-for-22 from the field overall.
Steven Adams extended his outstanding postseason form on Monday night with 16 points and 12 rebound performance for Oklahoma City in the win.
Curry led the Warriors with 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, but the star guard also had seven turnovers, as Golden State turned the ball over 14 times for 20 points for Oklahoma City.
Klay Thompson had 25 points and nine rebounds and Draymond Green added 23 points in the defeat for the Warriors.
The Oklahoma City Thunder owned the advantage on the board – grabbing 52 rebounds to the Golden State Warriors‘ 44.
