Thunder vs. Warriors: Game 7 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

The Golden State Warriors’ 2015-16 checklist is almost complete.  

They won an NBA-record 73 games during the regular season, Stephen Curry captured his second straight MVP and they finished a dramatic 3-1 comeback in the Western Conference Finals on Monday night at Oracle Arena with a 96-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7. 

Now all they have to do is beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to win a second straight title. 

Warriors knock out the Thunder!https://t.co/7jk3cq47F4

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 31, 2016

Curry proved why he was the MVP in Monday’s decisive showdown with 36 points, eight assists and five rebounds, while Klay Thompson added 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three-point range. Draymond Green also did a little bit of everything with 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, “Teams with that season’s MVP have now won 18 straight Game 7s.”

Kevin Durant led the way on the other side with 27 points and seven rebounds on 10-of-19 shooting, but fellow Oklahoma City playmaker Russell Westbrook struggled from the field and shot 7-of-21 on his way to 19 points. Westbrook did make up for some of the misses with 13 assists compared to only three turnovers, but he needed a better shooting performance if the Thunder were going to prevail.

ESPN Stats & Info said Durant joined some of the NBA’s most elite company with his Western Conference Finals performance even though he ultimately lost:

Kevin Durant has scored at least 25 pts in all 7 games of the series. Only others to do that in all 7 of Conference final- Jordan & LeBron

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 31, 2016

Golden State head coach Steve Kerr made news before tipoff when he elected to start Andre Iguodala, per Warriors PR. Kerr called the forward the “unsung hero” of Game 6 after he provided critical defense on Durant and Westbrook in the closing minutes, per Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle.

It proved beneficial, as Josh Dubow of the Associated Press noted “Durant has yet to take a shot in first 5:52 with Iguodala matched up on him.” That allowed Curry to drill a couple of deep threes on the other end and trim the Thunder’s early lead to 11-10.

Share Tweet

Even with Iguodala’s defense and Curry’s threes, the Thunder used strong defense and built a 24-19 lead by the end of the first quarter. Durant finally got a few looks on the way to seven first-quarter points, which Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman saw as a positive sign for the visitors:

Best sign for the Thunder: Kevin Durant not pressing + his jumper looks pure right now. Went 3-of-3 in 1Q — wing 3, long 2, baseline fade.

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 31, 2016

Oklahoma City expanded its lead to double digits at 35-22 within the first six minutes of the second behind its defense. Jordan Brenner of ESPN The Magazine reacted to the Thunder’s interior efforts:

Nothing that happened in Game 6 changed the fact that the Warriors can’t finish at the rim against OKC’s length.

— Jordan …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com