OKC Thunder Late Surge Shocks Golden State Warriors, 100-97

A furious ending of the Oklahoma City Thunder took down the Golden State Warriors tonight. It was unbelievable to see how the hosts froze in the decisive moments and how they lost what was supposed to be a sure victory. The final result of this interesting matchup in San Francisco was 100-97 for the Thunder.

After more than two and a half minutes without a basket on either side of the court, Glen Robinson III drilled a three, with 3:18 to go, to give his team a 97-87 lead. Many believed that it was the moment when Golden State finally broke OKC’s resistance.

But then came the knockout.

The guests scored 13 unanswered points to take a 100-97 lead. One by one, the Warriors were missing shots, while on the other side, Billy Donovan’s crew was on fire. Chris Paul and Dennis Schroeder dropped consecutive threes after Robinson’s. Following that, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored four points, and prevented Jordan Poole in the closing seconds of the contest, from hitting a three which could tie the game. Warriors scored just 14 points in that last period, shooting for two 1 of 13, and overall 5 of 22 from the field.

“We just tried to apply pressure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We knew that if we wanted to come back, we had to get some stops with the deficit. We were willing to do whatever it took to win and we did so.”

Dennis Schroder (22 PTS & 5 AST) and Chris Paul (20 PTS & 7 REB) lead the comeback for the Thunder in the Bay! ⚡️#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/1EkFyz3R8v

— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 26, 2019

Nothing indicated an ending like this one. Especially with the way the game developed and how Golden State took over control in the earlier stages of the match.

The guests opened the contest well and reached a 13-4 lead in less than three minutes. However, the Warriors made a 9-0 run, keeping OKC without a basket for almost four minutes. With 3:32 until the end of the opening quarter, the hosts got their first lead, with Robinson making a 20-foot jumper. After that, Steve Kerr’s team took over the wheel.

They would control the game well throughout the second frame, not allowing the visitors to respond, or take back the momentum. Alec Burks’ three-pointer with 35.3 seconds before the break gave them a 12-point, 59-47. The difference would stay similar after the break, with the Warriors’ offense denying every push the Thunder tried.

Robinson ended the night with 25 points, shooting 9 of 14 from the field. Ky Bowman had 24 and 5 assists, while Erich Paschall scored 13 with 10 boards, and he was well guarded by Danilo Gallinari, who managed to draw three offensive fouls. Jordan Poole had 11 buckets.

“Gallinari is a tough guy to face, because of his ability to flop and draw fouls and flail around and still fool the refs after all these years.”, said Kerr at the press conference. “Eric has to figure that out…You got to learn to leap, this league is all about figuring out the rules, figuring out the opponents, and knowing their tendencies.”

The Warriors played this game with just 8 guys, and it seems that the fatigue was the main reason for their loss. They didn’t have enough players in the rotation, and eventually, suffered a meltdown in the finish.

On the other side, the Thunder was close all the time, and it seems that they just waited for their chance to come up. In the end, that happened, but we need to add that they had a lot of help from the confused hosts.

Schroeder had 22 points off the bench, hitting four threes. Chris Paul had 20 buckets, also with four threes, 7 boards and 5 assists, and Gallinari added 15, but had 7 rebounds and 6 dimes.

The Thunder (6-10) is now heading up north to Portland, where they play against the Blazers on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Warriors (3-15) stay at home to face the Bulls on the same day.