With the opportunity to sweep the Oklahoma City Thunder in a two-game series at Chase Center, the Golden State Warriors didn’t waste any time getting to work on Saturday night.
Behind a red-hot opening quarter from Steph Curry, the Warriors built a dominant lead on the way to a wire-to-wire victory over the Thunder, 136-97. Curry exploded against the Thunder, scoring a game-high 49 points on 14-of-26 shooting from the field with five rebounds and two assists in only three quarters.
The seven-time All-Star guard caught fire from deep, drilling 11 triples on 21 attempts from beyond the arc. Curry has now recorded double-figure makes from beyond the arc in seven games during the 2020-21 campaign.
With his 49 point effort, Curry held on to the lead for the NBA scoring title with 31.9 points per contest. The two-time Most Valuable Player has recorded 30 or more points in 19 of his last 21 games.
After two wins over the Thunder, the Warriors will welcome the Western Conference-best Utah Jazz to Chase Center on Monday.
[mm-video type=video id=01f51eys8tazyrtp0qyt playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f51eys8tazyrtp0qyt/01f51eys8tazyrtp0qyt-48157354ce946e927b8c79a264e8b3ff.jpg]
Draymond Green — Splash Brother
Along with leading the charge on the defensive side of the floor, Draymond Green showed off his jumper against the Thunder. The three-time All-Star was perfect from long distance in the first half, dropping in three triples on three attempts.
Green finished the contest with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field with 13 assists and five rebounds in 30 minutes against the Thunder.
First Quarter
On Thursday, the Warriors set the tone for the contest with a dominant effort in the opening frame. Golden State wasted no time, blitzing to a 12 point lead in the first 12 minutes of the game.
Curry paced the Warriors with an explosive 24 point run in the first quarter on 6-of-9 shooting from the field with five triples on seven attempts from deep. Outside of Curry’s fireworks, only Green, Andrew Wiggins and Juan Toscano-Anderson registered points for the Warriors in the first quarter.
Record breakers
Curry’s 11 3-pointers against the Thunder helped fuel another record-breaking performance for the Warriors. With 27 triples on 54 attempts from long distance on Saturday, the Warriors set a new franchise record for most made 3-pointers in a single game.
Following Curry, nine members of the Warriors drilled a jumper from behind the 3-point line. Outside of Kevon Looney, every player in Golden State’s rotation that played buried a 3-pointer.
Via @WarriorsPR on Twitter:
Following three-pointers by Nico Mannion and Mychal Mulder, the Warriors have a franchise-record 26 three-pointers. The NBA record for threes in a game is 29.
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) May 9, 2021
[lawrence-related id=36895,36885,36833]
[listicle id=36243]