“We ain’t going home”
After a late acrobatic layup finished high off the glass, Stephen Curry screamed “we ain’t going home, we’re not going home” to the Oracle Arena crowd as the Thunder called a timeout. Curry finished with 31 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in a statement game by the two-time MVP. The Warriors are now 11-0 the last two post-seasons when Curry scored 30 or more and he finished with 12 points in the last six minutes as Golden State staved off elimination.
Curry climbs the Warriors scoring list
Steph Curry passed Wilt Chamberlain for second on the all-time Warriors scoring list on Thursday night. The crazy thing is how quickly Curry has climbed up the tanks and how many playoff points Rick Barry has accumulated. It is inevitable that barring something unforeseen, the point guard will end up on top but it is a reminder that Barry had a much better post-season performance record than we remember.
| Warriors playoff scoring leaders | |
|---|---|
| Player | Points |
| Rick Barry | 1776 |
| Stephen Curry | 1263 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | 1246 |
| Paul Arizin | 1186 |
| Jeff Mullins | 1073 |
Green gets another T
Draymond Green picked up his 5th technical foul for yelling at the officials. Ken Mauer called the technical even though Green’s barbs were not directed at him. The Warriors forwrad will be automatically suspended if he picks up two more technicals.
Bogut bounces back
In the first four games of the series, Andrew Bogut was limited to an average of three points in just 14 minutes. His opposition at centre, Steven Adams, put up 11 points and 8.5 rebounds per game by comparison. Bogut played big in Game 5 with a career post-season high 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 14 rebounds.
Bogut’s presence help Golden State keep the rebounding at 45 each after the Warriors were badly beaten on the boards in all three of their losses. After the Thunder averaged 55 points in the paint in Game 1 and Game 2, Bogut limited them to 30 in Game 5.
Terrific Thunder twosome
The Thunder’s loss was not due to a lack of effort from their two all-NBA superstars. Oklahoma City was lead by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook who combined for 71 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists and six steals. Westbrook and Durant took 59 of the Thunder’s 91 shots. The Thunder hadn’t lost in these playoffs when Kevin Durant scored at least 30 points. That changed on Thursday.
Key Stats – Last night’s game was Steve Kerr’s 200th in charge of Golden State. In that span he is a marvellous 166-34, good enough for an .830 win rate.