The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Golden State Warriors 118-94 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Here are some takeaways.
72 Against a 73-Win Team
The Warriors got off to another horrendous start defensively and it was too much to overcome. It was Golden State’s first time allowing 70-plus points in the first half of consecutive games since 1993. Oklahoma City put up 72 points in the first half in each of the last two games. The Warriors gave up 72 in a half only once all regular season.
Roberson Respect
The Warriors’ defensive game plan has stemmed around leaving Thunder forward Andre Roberson open and guarding him with bigs. Roberson made them pay for the lack of respect with 17 points, 12 rebounds and five steals in Game 4.
Lacob Curse
The Warriors lost two straight games for the first time this season. Golden State was 68-7 when Warriors owner Joe Lacob commented to The New York Times Magazine that the Warriors are “light-years ahead” of the rest of the league.
Small Thunder
Billy Donovan has pushed all the right buttons this post-season in his first year as an NBA head coach. His Oklahoma City lineup of Russell Westbrook, Dion Waiters, Andre Roberson and Kevin Durant outscored Golden State 91-35 in 36 minutes over the last two games. The Thunder’s small lineup outscored the Warriors 46-20 in just 14 minutes in Game 4. The best player in that group is Westbrook, who has led the team emotionally and provided positional flexibility to make them create havoc defensively.
Record Books
Most 30 points, 10 rebound, 10 assist games in NBA playoff history:
| Player | Number of games |
|---|---|
| Oscar Robertson | 8 |
| LeBron James | 8 |
| Russell Westbrook | 3 |
Starters Rule
All five Thunder starters finished in double-digit scoring. Since getting blown out by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the previous round, the Thunder are 7-2. The club probably has the best five-man unit in the league and they are playing big minutes now.
Key Stats
Despite the Warriors being down 3-1 they are still 7.5 favourites in Game 5. Teams who go up 3-1 in the NBA playoffs are 223-9 or have a 96 per cent win rate. Teams who take a 3-1 lead in the conference finals are 37-2 in those series.