Warriors-Thunder: The Series We’ve All Been Waiting For

Curry, Durant, and Westbrook are all among the top five players in the league. Green and Thompson aren’t far behind either. Both home crowds are some of the best in the league and there has been clutch, heroic performances when these teams have met within these past few years. Andre Iguodala, Westbrook, Curry and others have shown that they are made for this big stage and will be out to prove that they are the better team.

The Warriors and Thunder played at Oracle Arena earlier this year in February, a day before the Super Bowl. I dubbed it the Durant Bowl because he will most likely playing for one of these two teams next season, but that’s another story. Golden State and Oklahoma City assembled so much star power in Oakland that night, camera crews couldn’t keep up. Some were calling it a better event than the Super Bowl itself. Needless to say, the teams put on a show. Kevin Durant dropped 40, but the Warriors had a well balanced attack and won by eight.

A few weeks later, Stephen Curry had a performance for the ages. He scored 46 points, shot 12-16 from beyond the arc (tying the NBA record), and hit the game winning shot from nearly half court. The crowd, social media, players, and the world were stunned. At this point, it’s expected of Curry. That night, I think he was officially accepted as the best player in the league by everyone outside of Warrior fans. It was incredible.

The final match-up of the season between the two teams consisted of the Warriors outscoring the Thunder by 16 points in the fourth quarter and winning by 15. Curry scored 33 in the duel while Durant had 32. Now we see a Thunder team who shocked the world by beating San Antonio in six games, including a dominating Game 6 win Oklahoma City. The Spurs looked all but the Spurs and had no answer for the Thunder offense.

Klay Thompson has been playing the best basketball of his career and draws another difficult task: Russell Westbrook. From James Harden to Damian Lillard, no doubt that this will be the toughest one yet. He did well against the other two and his confidence is sky-high at the moment. Portland gave the Warriors all they could handle and prepared them mentally for another high scoring team like OKC.

Harrison Barnes will get the even more difficult task of dealing with that man that’s been rumored to take his spot all year long, Kevin Durant. Barnes and Iguodala will likely rotation with some Draymond Green and Klay Thompson thrown in there. Guarding Durant is one of the hardest jobs in basketball and it will take a collective effort to stop arguably the best forward in the league.

After the Warriors beat the Trail Blazers, reporters asked Green and Curry who they would rather play in the next round. Green said that both teams posses different challenges and mentioned the Thunder’s “two-headed monster” consisting of Durant and Westbrook. To many, they’re considered the best duo in basketball. They’ve proven to be a headache to several of the top defensive teams in the league, including the Grizzlies and the Spurs in these playoffs. The team is playing with an extra edge in what could be Durant’s last series in a Thunder jersey.

In what has been a below average 2016 NBA Playoffs, fans will get the match-up of a lifetime with the Warriors and the Thunder. Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry are some of the greatest point guards not just in the league today, but of all-time and Kevin Durant is a former MVP and future Hall of Famer as well. Billy Donovan is a new coach like Steve Kerr was and the environments at Oracle Arena and Chesapeake Energy Center are practically unmatched. Durant’s future in Oklahoma City looms large over this series and the Warriors are looking to go back to back. The 2016 Western Conference Finals will be one for the ages and something we all deserve.