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The Golden State Warriors face a win or go home battle against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. Join The Roar for the live blog and scores from 11am (AEST).
Nobody had this playing out the way that it has, the record-breaking Warriors, who eclipsed the 96 Bulls regular season record by going 73-9, find themselves in a 1-3 hole.
Ever since ‘The Kick Heard Round the World’ the Warriors been a shell of their former selves. Unanimous MVP Steph Curry has looked human and Draymond Green has actually been a bit of a liability to the team.
Over the last two games Steph has averages of 21.5 ppg, 4 apg and 5 rpg. Those numbers seem okay for a normal player, but Steph isn’t a normal player. When you breakdown the points per game he’s actually shooting a horrible 35 per cent from the field, coupled with 23.8 per cent from deep – a far drop from his regular season percentages of 50 per cent and 45 per cent.
Now those numbers are alarming and leads you to believe that something is wrong with Steph, however he says he’s fine.
Let’s make him feel a bit better; while his numbers are down they’re not as bad as the Warriors number 2.
Green has averages of 6 ppg, 2.5 apg, 7.5 rpg. He’s shooting a woeful 12.5 per cent from the floor and 0 per cent from deep. Throw into this that over the last two games his +/- is a combined -73.
Now all of that might seem confusing but what it all means for the Warriors is one thing: trouble.
Meanwhile, Thunder megastars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are playing some of their best basketball ever together. And they’re getting it done on both ends of the floor, which is something they’ve never been able to piece together over such a period.
Depth is critical when it comes to the playoffs and while the Warriors’ bench is the stronger list on paper, its been the Thunder secondary that has stood tall.
Being back in the Bay Area is a good sign for the Warriors, but unless they get the normal production from Steph and Draymond they will be going fishing, while the Thunder will be dancing on through to the NBA Finals.
Prediction
The Warriors lost back-to-back games for the first time all season when they went down in Game 4. They’re far too historically great to not go down without a fight; they will take this and force a Game 6.
Warriors by 9
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