Warriors vs Thunder NBA Playoff Preview

By Tony PSD | 5:15 pm, May 24, 2016

Matchup

Golden State Warriors 1-2 (0-1 ROAD)	vs	Oklahoma City Thunder 2-1 (1-0 HOME)
Details
May 24, 2016
Chesapeake Energy Arena — Oklahoma City, OK
6 p.m. PST
TNT \| KNBR 680 AM
Blog Buddy: Welcome to Loud City
Projected Starters
Stephen Curry	G	Russell Westbrook
Klay Thompson	G	Andre Roberson
Harrison Barnes	F	Kevin Durant
Draymond Green	F	Serge Ibaka
Andrew Bogut	C	Steven Adams
Key Injuries
None		None

Team Overviews

Quick Warriors vs Thunder Game 3 recap: What happened? OKC did some things to Golden State that was unheard of this season. Let’s break it down in a few bullet points shall we:

• Golden State shot 41% (38/92 shooting) and were 10/33 in 3-pointers (30%)

• Draymond Green had “inadvertently” kicked Center Steven Adams in the groin. (The initial Flagrant 1 ruling on Green during the game was upgraded to a Flagrant 2 yesterday)

• The Warriors were limited to 19 points in the second quarter.

• The Thunder went on a scoring spree with 45 points in the third quarter.

• Kevin Durant went on a shooting spree with 33-points and 8rebounds (10 of 15 shooting and 12 of 12 from the free throw line)

• Russell Westbrook finished with 30 points (10 of 19 shooting) along with 12 assists and 8 rebounds.

• OKC’s big men won the rebounding battle 52 to 38 against Golden State.

Warriors “not so” Fun Fact: (OUCH!)

Inadvertent or not? Draymond kicks Steven Adams in the … https://t.co/yIkI2wluaS

— USA TODAY Sports NBA (@usatodaynba) May 23, 2016

The end result of that “not so” fun fact: (whew!)

Warriors dodge bullet, Draymond Green will not be suspended for Game 4: https://t.co/WsVEjCVol5

— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) May 24, 2016

Suspension?
NOPE.#Draypool #DubNation pic.twitter.com/9ixUMB4YAK

— Tony Robles (@Tonypsd) May 24, 2016

Key to the game: Forget about Game 3

It’s all about focusing and not falling behind 3-1 in this series. The Warriors have not been put in this situation of losing back to back games all season. Let’s get back on track and have an amazing road victory tonight. There’s plenty of basketball left to play!

Predictions

– Stephen Curry has seen better games. The team and his leadership skills need to turn this around. They just need to make adjustments and avoid their first back to back loss for the season. Our MVP is up for the challenge.

– Team Composure: We will do better tonight. We lost it out there in Game 3. You could see the frustration mount and Draymond’s kick to Adam’s groin didn’t help things get better. We gotta move past that and do better.

– OKC’s home crowd: The energy OKC’s home crowd displayed Sunday night reminded me of the Roaracle Home crowd before we won a championship. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still loud but some of that magic seems lost with many longtime fans priced out to attend games this season. Sunday’s crowd at the Chesapeake Energy Arena definitely played a huge factor in the Thunders win. My prediction against the home crowd is that we need to strike fast and keep em’ quiet. It’s going to be a tough task but I tip my hat to the fans support towards their team.

Win Prediction

The Warriors just gotta win tonight or face elimination at home. The series is far from over and I’m predicting an emotional overtime win 108-103 to bring the series back to the Roaracle.