Thunder vs. Warriors: Game 1 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

The cliche in the NBA playoffs is the series doesn’t start until the road team wins a game. If that’s the case, the Western Conference Finals are officially underway.

The Oklahoma City Thunder stunned the defending champion Golden State Warriors 108-102 in Game 1 of the teams’ best-of-seven series at Oracle Arena on Monday. The Warriors held the lead after each of the first three quarters, but the same Oklahoma City squad that was criticized all year for its fourth-quarter collapses won the final 12 minutes 23-14.

Russell Westbrook led the way with an impressive and balanced stat line, as he helped keep the Warriors in check with a franchise-record seven steals, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Russ27 points 12 assists 7 steals 6 reboundsThunder defeat the Warriors, 108-102Take a 1-0 series lead https://t.co/g72GbFFjeS

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 17, 2016

Kevin Durant added 26 points and 10 rebounds and hit a critical jumper to put Oklahoma City ahead by five with 30.7 seconds remaining—though he finished 10-of-30 from the field. Steven Adams (16 points and 12 rebounds) and Serge Ibaka (11 points and 11 rebounds) also posted double-doubles.

Stephen Curry did what he could for Golden State with 26 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, but he shot just 9-of-22 from the field and committed seven turnovers. He did, however, set a postseason record:

If you hold a 3-point record Steph Curry will eventually break it pic.twitter.com/pBMk4dWBLa

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 17, 2016

Klay Thompson (25 points and nine rebounds) and Draymond Green (23 points) provided some assistance, but the Warriors turned the ball over 14 times and shot 44 percent from the field.

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Golden State led 11-10 midway through the first when Westbrook went to the floor grabbing his face. Andrew Bogut had made contact with the point guard’s head as he reached for a rebound and earned a flagrant foul. Westbrook remained in the game.

CBS Sports shared a look at the play:

ow. pic.twitter.com/TdxPzRorb4

— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) May 17, 2016

The Warriors took a 27-21 lead into the second quarter but shot only 2-of-7 from three-point range. John Schuhmann of NBA.com said, “I know the Warriors’ bad shots are sometimes good shots, but the Warriors have been taking some awful shots,” which made it feel as if Oklahoma City had missed an opportunity to take control of the game in the early going.

That seemed even truer when Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala spearheaded a 10-3 run over the first two minutes of the second to give Golden State a 37-24 advantage. Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report weighed in on the quick spurt:

This is that thing the Warriors did in the regular season where it’s competitive and then you look away and they’re up 15.

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) May 17, 2016

The Thunder cut the deficit to 46-42 on an Ibaka dunk, but Thompson answered by entering into takeover mode. He drilled two threes and scored in the lane for a personal 8-0 spurt, and just like that, the Warriors were ahead by 12 with less than two minutes remaining until halftime. NBA on TNT shared the quick response that started the run:

This game …

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