Golden State Shows Strengths in Win over Oklahoma City
The Golden State Warriors sit in first place in the NBA Western Conference, while the Oklahoma City Thunder is battling for a low seed in the post season due to injuries to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook early in the season.
On the surface, the Warriors are not visibly worried about meeting the Thunder during the postseason. If they are in anyway, those concerns could be lessened through how the Warriors defense shut down the mighty offense of Oklahoma City in a 117-91 rout.
The Warriors held the Thunder to 30% shooting on the night from the field.
Perhaps Golden State should be in fear of Oklahoma City, as it is a good motivator. The Thunder has been to the NBA Finals and to the conference finals more than once.
The Thunder is intimidating, a team no one would like to face in the first round of the postseason.
However, reasons exist to like Golden State if that playoff series were to take place.
The current Golden State squad has some advantages in the matchup that have shown up in Golden State’s last two victories head to head with the Thunder.
The Warriors have Klay Thompson who can effectively defend Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook. This season, Stephen Curry has improved defensively, but Thompson is a much better choice to guard Westbrook.
The advantage is Curry can conserve his energy by guarding another Thunder player such as Andre Roberson who is a defensive specialist.
Secondly, the size Thompson has bothers Westbrook and helps on the pick and roll the Thunder utilize with Durant and Westbrook.
Often times the Thunder like to switch on defense while many teams elect to do that to trap Curry off the pick and roll out of fear of his patented off the dribble jumper.
The Thunder did that on Monday night against the Warriors but Curry did not take the forced long shots, but rather drove to the basket through the double team.
Curry did not launch a three point shot the entire first half.
On defense, the Warriors army of arms and Oklahoma City’s lack of movement on offense spelled doom for Durant, Westbrook and the entire Thunder offense.
The game was a glimpse of how beautiful but brutal it looks when the top pace in the league is combined with its top defense.
Golden State should maintain a certain fear for all elite teams, as they are an up and coming contender in the talented and deep Western Conference.
However, while all that is true, other teams across the league are quickly learning to fear Golden State.
The Warriors improved to 27-5 and are 1 ½ games in front in the Western Conference as they approach the halfway point of the regular season.
