The Golden State Warriors overcame a 3-1 series deficit—coming back from 13 down in Game 6 at Oklahoma City in the process—to beat the Thunder in Game 7, 96-88. They are the tenth team in NBA history to come back from 3-1 in a seven-game series. The final nail in the coffin came with 26.8 seconds left in the game and it was, of course, a Steph Curry three-pointer.
Curry seemed to be the only one interested in pushing the ball up the court—even the Thunder players didn’t follow him—so he ran into open space under the rim and, with the lead at seven, he just decided to kill more time. He pulled it back out, danced around behind the three-point line, and shook Andre Roberson so far out of the play that he wound up with an uncontested three, which he buried. Neither Roberson nor Russell Westbrook were anywhere near the play as they just watched the series end. It was Curry’s seventh three of the game, and it’s a pretty perfect Steph Moment: he’s going to get his shot off, and probably make you look silly in the process.
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Curry was a force in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 of his 36 points in the final 12 minutes; his fellow Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, finished with 21, including 6–for-11 shooting from behind the arc. In all, Golden State closed out the game with 25 points in the final quarter, all by Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green.
For the Warriors, the focus will shift to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the start of the NBA Finals on Thursday. For the Thunder, the discussion now starts on what will happen with Kevin Durant. He’ll be a free agent this offseason, and a highly coveted one at that. He has been linked everywhere from his hometown Washington Wizards to the Los Angeles Lakers. Considering some of the heartbreaking ways his team has managed to lose to the Warriors, maybe Durant will opt for the Eastern Conference, so at least the next time he runs into the Warriors in the playoffs, it will be in the Finals.
[TNT]
