The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to deal with their boogeyman as they lose to the Golden State Warriors for the second time in a week, 141-114.
The Thunder are now 0-8 against the Warriors in the last three seasons.
2.5 games separate both teams in the standings, but several years of experience and a massive talent gap were on full display on Monday.
After the Thunder opened a 37-31 lead following the first quarter, the Warriors blitzed the Thunder in the middle quarters and outscored them 73-48.
Like they’ve been doing for nearly a decade now, the Warriors forced the Thunder to play at their pace and buried them with hot outside shooting that quickly avalanched their lead and made the fourth quarter garbage time.
The Warriors went 56-of-97 (57.7%) from the field and dished out an absurd 43 assists. The Warriors made a season-high 26-of-50 (52%) from three.
Klay Thompson — like he’s done all his career — led the three-point barrage with 42 points on 15-of-22 shooting and 12-of-16 three-point shooting. In two games against the Thunder, Thompson is shooting 18-of-30 (60%) from three.
Some things never change, do they?
“Some of the early (Thompson three-pointers) were on me,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We were betting on our guards kinda pursuing him… If you bring the big up there, it opens up a can of worms in other areas of the game… That’s why they’re a good team. They present dilemmas.”
Outside of Thompson, Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins both had awesome nights. Poole finished with 21 points and 12 assists. Wiggins finished with 18 points and held Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in check.
Off the bench for the Warriors, Donte DiVincenzo also had 14 points and seven assists. JaMychal Green had 12 points. Kevon Looney grabbed 11 rebounds.
If the Warriors continue to play like this, Steph Curry’s extended absence shouldn’t be felt.
Despite the 27-point loss, scoring points wasn’t the problem for the Thunder.
The Thunder went 44-of-91 (48.4%) from the field and 11-of-32 (34.4%) from three. The Thunder also outshot the Warriors from the free-throw line, 21 attempts to seven attempts.
What ultimately lost the Thunder the game was the three-ball. A 45-point disadvantage from threes will do that to you.
The Thunder weren’t able to stop the Warriors’ infamous third-quarter runs, as they were outscored 44-26 in that period. The Warriors shot 9-of-15 from three during that span and the Thunder didn’t have the offensive ammo to keep up.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.