On Tuesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder handled the Golden State Warriors for second game in a row, defeating them 118-94. This was the first time all season that the Warriors had lost back to back games, and now they are staring elimination in the face as they are down 3-1 in the series.
This relatively shocking turn of events has led to the emptying of the once overflowing Warriors bandwagon.
Warriors fans be like….. pic.twitter.com/8w5aRL3NHg
— ツ ⛹ (@AthleteTwittah) May 25, 2016
After completing the regular season with the best record in NBA history, finishing at an almost incomprehensible 73-9, the Warriors now have to deal with the very real possibility of their historic season ending without a trip to the finals, let alone a second straight Larry O’Brien Trophy.
With Stephen Curry still dealing with the lingering effects of a knee injury from the 2nd round of the playoffs, and Draymond Green becoming public enemy number 1 after his controversy with Steven Adams, the Thunder have taken full advantage.
All this athleticism. All this length. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the rest of the OKC Thunder have never looked more freight-trainy
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 25, 2016
Perhaps the most surprising development from this series is how inefficient Green has been.
Draymond Green has played in 375 games (Reg. season & playoffs) during 4-year career. His two worst +/- games: Game 3 (-43) & Game 4 (-30)
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 25, 2016
Of course, in game 3, Green caused a storm of controversy when he kicked Thunder Center Steven Adams in the groin after being fouled. Green professed his innocence but the league handed down a $25,000 fine and upgraded the foul on Green to a flagrant 2. Since the incident occurred, Green’s stats have gone down dramatically.
Games 3 & 4 have been wholly forgettable for @Money23Green in #WARRIORSvTHUNDER
WATCH: https://t.co/XLokLpbSvg pic.twitter.com/C3iHQJQF0i
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) May 25, 2016
This is not to take anything away from the Thunder, who have been playing historically good basketball.
1st team since 1987 @Lakers to score 72+ points in the first half of back-to-back #NBAPlayoffs gameshttps://t.co/OTtLN5Qjcw
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 25, 2016
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook was particularly effective in game 4, finishing with an impressive stat line of 36 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds. This coming after a regular season in which Westbrook had 18 triple doubles, trying NBA legend Magic Johnson for the most in a single season.
"Russell just plays with incredible passion." – @okcthunder coach Billy Donovan on @russwest44 https://t.co/4QSWnDZGwT
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 25, 2016
But it was not just Westbrook playing well for the Thunder, as the whole team finished with a +16 rebounding margin, as well more points in the paint, and less turnovers.
All of this has put the Warriors in the unenviable situation of being down 3-1 in the series.
Teams that take a 3-1 lead in the conference finals are 37-2 in NBA history.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 25, 2016
Only 9 times in the history of the playoffs has a team come back from a 3-1 hole, the most recent being the Houston Rockets coming back and defeating the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals. So there is still a chance that the Warriors can right the ship and mount a comeback in the series, but history is definitely not on the Dubs side.
Game 5 takes place Wednesday night at 6 PM PT at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors posted a 39-2 record during the regular season.